LEWISTON – After a two-year hiatus, the corner of Park and Ash streets will be humming with financial activity again.

Five County Credit Union purchased three floors of the former Fleet Bank building from owner James Day and plans to open a full-service branch there by early August. Five County was founded in 1956 by employees of Bath Iron Works and today has a membership of 15,500.

About 2,000 of those members live in the Lewiston-Auburn area.

“Our objective is to serve our members, and they have been asking for a specific location,” said Richard Dupuis, CEO of Five County. The credit union is open to anyone who lives or works within Androscoggin, Sagadahoc, Cumberland, Kennebec and Lincoln counties. There are two branches each in Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties now; the credit union wants to have branches in all five counties.

The first floor of the former Fleet building had been a branch of that bank until early 2002. Renovations are under way to prepare the space for its new occupants. A historic, first-floor mural depicting life among early American Indian settlers around Great Falls is expected to be preserved. The 18-by-9.5-foot mural was glued to the walls when installed in the 1950s.

The $350,000 renovations include security upgrades to the basement-level vaults as well as new signs, hardware conversions and general sprucing up. The sixth floor will be made into a board room, conference area and community function space.

“It has a great view,” said Dupuis. Although the credit union only needed the basement and first floor, Dupuis said negotiations with developer Bill Johnson went well enough to include the sixth floor.

Lincoln Jeffers, Lewiston’s deputy director of economic and community development, is excited about the newcomer. The credit union’s arrival signals the third financial institution to announce plans to open a local branch within the past few months. Auburn Savings and Loan is building a branch at the intersection of Orange and Sabattus streets and Bangor Savings is opening a business center on Main Street.

Dupuis said the credit union directors liked the idea of being downtown.

“We have a sense of the revitalization and excitement in downtown Lewiston, and saw an opportunity to be there and part of it,” he said.

The credit union will offer savings and checking accounts as well as loans, club accounts, retirement accounts and other financial services.

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