LEWISTON – The former Peoples Savings Bank building – a downtown landmark at the corner of Ash and Lisbon streets since 1938 – has new owners who plan to restore the building’s historic facade.
Michael Sly and his partner, Larry Fiore, bought the building this week from TD Banknorth, the current reincarnation of Peoples bank. The Boston businessmen plan to begin work over the next couple of weeks to take down the smoked-glass exterior and reveal the building’s classic brick-and-granite facade.
“We’ll try to do our best to bring it back to a nice-looking, historic building,” said Sly.
The smoked-glass shell and awning were put over the street sides of the building in 1980 as part of an urban renewal effort. Sly said he’s not sure exactly what the building will look like once the shell comes down, since it was bolted to a steel superstructure that encased the building. Some of the building’s original features, such as granite cornice work, were destroyed in the process.
“You know brick looks good forever and this type of glass looks dated in 10 years,” said Sly, questioning the logic behind the 1980 renovation.
The deal includes the Sands Building, adjacent to the Peoples building on Lisbon Street.
Both will be used for office space. Sly said there’s 33,000 square feet of leasable space, 8,000 of which will be occupied by TD Banknorth employees.
Craig Young, a partner with C.R. Ellis/Boulos Co. who brokered the deal, said the restoration effort includes replacing windows and blasting the paint off the exposed bricks. He expects the building will be ready for new tenants by fall.
“It will look like a dramatically different building by September first,” said Young.
Sly and Fiore received a $75,000 grant from the city to help pay for the facade work. They are submitting their plans to the city’s historic preservation board to make sure the renovation fits with the city’s historic architecture.
Sly said he was drawn to Lewiston by its proximity to Thompson Lake, where he has a vacation home that he hopes to retire to one day, and by the affordability of real estate. He already owns two local rental properties as investments.
“Real estate is very expensive down here,” he said from his Boston office. “A two-family around here that you want to buy as an investment property is between $500,000 and $550,000,” he said. “Up there it’s about $175,000.”
Sly said he was also impressed by the investments the city is making in its downtown and other projects, such as the Wal-Mart distribution center.
“I don’t expect Lewiston will be a booming metropolis, but as Portland gets more and more expensive, businesses will look for other places to have their offices,” he said. “I think we’ll provide a pretty good place for those businesses.”
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