Gorham Savings Bank has opened a new branch in the historic Grand Trunk Railroad Depot on Main Street in Yarmouth after a yearlong restoration project.
The project was done in collaboration with historic preservation property developer and owner of the depot, Ford Reiche, who has rehabilitated four other properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including Halfway Rock Light Station at the mouth of Casco Bay and the Grand Trunk Line station in Gilead.
Gorham Savings said it also worked with the town of Yarmouth, the Village Improvement Society and landscape architect Sarah Witte to improve the green space, pathways, lighting and other aspects of Village Green Park, the public area surrounding the branch.
“We strongly believe in making a positive impact in the communities we serve,” Steve deCastro, president and CEO of Gorham Savings, said in a statement. “When the opportunity to help restore this historic landmark presented itself, we believed it was an excellent way to invest in Yarmouth.”
The Yarmouth depot, built in 1906 and originally owned by the Canadian National Railway Co., was active for 60 years until the trains stopped serving the area. The Village Improvement Society bought the property in 1968 to save it from demolition. In 1979, the property was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
It is the second building on the National Register that Gorham Savings has helped restore in the past three years. The first was the Grand Trunk Railway Co. building at the corner of India and Commercial streets in Portland, which the bank restored in 2017.
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