Inside Job Reveals Bank’s Future Riches

I've always been in awe of that space. It would be a crime to substantially alter it. Even when all the tellers were gone and the bank operation pared down to nothing, I would walk in just to be awed by that teller cage and what is said about money and security and aspiration in those times. How degraded we have become aesthetically and in terms of workmanship; the best my bank can offer is institutional indoor/outdoor carpeting. Years ago you got a marble floor, a soaring ceiling and windows and classical columns holding it all up.

And of course I would always imagine the door busting open with guys in double breasted suits wearing fedoras and carrying tommy guns, yelling at everyone to get down on the floor while they forced the head teller to open the cage with a gun to the head of the assistant vice president; Packards idling at the curb with the getaway driver smoking an unfiltered cigarette. I know, I know, I've watched way to many Hollywood gangster films from the Golden Age. I'm surprised no one ever used it as a film location.

I am also very surprised it doesn't have some sort of historic preservation designation.

Seems like a great spot for a restaurant, conference or event space. But there's one problem.

The adjacent streets (Church and Elm) both feel like highways, each with many through-lanes of high speed, noisy, one-way traffic. As a result, a restaurant at this location would never be viable.

Church and Elm each should be two-way streets and they don't need more than one lane in each direction. Narrow them down to one lane, add a protected cycletrack, dedicated bus lane if needed, and widen the sidewalks to create outdoor greenery and set-backs with outdoor seating and nice lighting, similar to what every new commercial district in big cities like NYC, DC, Boston, has these days. Add raised crosswalks. Then the area would be a place where people want to come and spend time.

Yes please! Put in a Food Hall, with event space, a private dining room, a wine cellar, the center teller circle would make an awesome bar, with a Fanueil Hall and European/Asian market feeling.
And I totally agree with what anonymous said. Change Church, Elm, Whitney to two way streets with one lane in each direction, protected bike lanes, and outdoor cafe seating. This could become the new destination place to hold an event, get a meal, or a drink, and so much more once it reimagined and the streets become more pedestrian and bike friendly. With all the new market rate and luxury residential units the area is ripe for more dining and entertainment and shopping amenities for the new residents who will have money to spend, and who have fewer parking spaces, so they will be walking around the area a lot more all hours of the day. This part of town used to be desolate after business hours, but now it could be a lot more lively and have more eyes on the street if the buildings are used for more pedestrian friendly streetscapes with places that create more foot and bike traffic.

Thank you, Paul Bass, for this amazing story about what this bank was at one time. I drive by it often, but had no idea of the grandeur that hides beneath it's unassuming exterior.

The inside dome is magnificent. It is similar to the one in The Taft that is rumored to be a Tiffany piece.
However, the neglect of The Taft, for whatever reasons, is obvious when one walks into the Grand Lobby.
The amazing tiled floor needs cleaning (especially in the corners) and the Tiffany dome needs cleaning and maybe some repairs to keep it the gem that it is.

What will become of this magnificent space in this story?

The photos were awesome! And, they seemed eerie! The Board meeting room - now empty - must have had life changing decisions for some made right there!

This historic place needs it's proper place and I hope wherever it "goes" it accomplishes that in New Haven's history.

Thanks so much for that article, Paul!

Is New Haven an endless pendulum swing? In the 1960's we leveled neighborhoods for the "new" car culture of towers in the park. Now everyone wants to reduce all traffic lanes to bike paths and outdoor cafe space? Neither of these fantasies are good for the city.

Note that I currently ride my bike to work from Westville to Fair Haven because its faster than driving. I find the bike lanes available to be littered or occupied (Yale trucks) so I often don't use them. Neither does anyone else, because New Haven isn't Europe!

As for the space being discussed, unless Yale occupies it then a residential conversion seems likely. It's far too large for a restaurant or bar to justify the rent. There is limited parking available so it has limited office or convention center use. I'm afraid I can think of several wonderful former banks in New Haven that lie in wait as new banks situate themselves in smaller and more accessible spaces.

How long will the first floor of this building remain empty? How long has the bank building at 45 Church been empty? It's been at least 6 years, maybe more. I never really noticed it before then. I wish owners of downtown properties -- hell, all properties -- had some real incentive to DO something with those properties. And I don't just mean the $50,000/yr tax -- that's peanuts to these guys, and it tends to go unpaid for long periods of time anyway, then baked into the sales price or actually shouldered by the new owners. (Board of Alders, here's another free idea: name & shame the top delinquent taxpayers each year!)

Obviously turn it into something that will definitely bring more people Downtown and to New Haven in general.

I love the idea of a food hall, but I believe it would be even more amazing if a bar could also be integrated into that vision of there potentially being food venues that would occupy and bring new life to the space.

I think it's perfect because it's in a beautiful historic building that now have apartments above the space that's in question.. but I think this is a great chance to reimagine and revitalize much of the commercial district into an area that could end up being like a smaller NYC.

Future development of other unoccupied spaces and empty buildings in the area could help make for a better Downtown to live, work, and spend time.

Downtown need cycle tracks on certain streets. They provide safety for bicyclists on streets that's busy, unlike regular bike lanes.. Two-way streets would likely calm traffic down and make it easier for drivers to find parking and to get around the area.

Bus/Bike Lanes is a nice option.. and would probably make the most sense on busy Downtown streets.. especially if its to reduce the number of lanes. For the most part I agree with Anonymous's point..

Anonymous, converting Church and Elm Streets to two-way makes eminent sense. Among other things, it would simplify bus transfers. I believe the conversion is in the works. Raised crosswalks would also help. It may also be possible to narrow the traffic lanes and use this space for bike lanes or wider sidewalks.

But I think the idea of dropping lanes on these streets is implausible (and I bike more than I drive in town). They are arteries and carry too much traffic (buses as well as cars) to work as two-lane streets.

I'm sure some part of Yale could find a good use for this beautiful historic space. Perhaps an extension for one of their museums? A visitor or conference center? A befitting new home for the Yale Endowment Investment Office? Tons of possibilities!

My take on this is: I'm not sure what will bring in sufficient revenue to keep the owner(s) of this building happy, but saving this stunning interior from being recycled into apartments should definitely be a goal. New Haven has a lot of apartments already being built, or in planning, but only one ground-level-plus space this big at the heart of downtown, and I look forward to seeing and encouraging an artistic re-purposing of this beautiful set of spaces. While I don't agree with the traffic / street redesign ideas proposed in other comments, I would like to point out that this space already has amazing benefits that help make a public assembly space viable as a tenant. For example, in the evenings there is plenty of on-street parking, plus (for now) a parking lot behind the building, and a parking garage just a block away on Church that could easily stay open to accommodate customers if the new place became a popular destination. Ignoring cars, the place is right by the central hub of the city --- the New Haven Green -- with transit bus stops to most everywhere plus the Yale Shuttle. It's an easy and fairly safe walk from many Yale residential colleges, and there are good sidewalks. Rent for a space like this could be $1000 a day or more, plus utilities, so plan to find a use that can cover that kind of rent if you want a good relationship with the building's owners. I can easily see a space that offers food, live music, displays of art in a great setting, and opportunities for social interaction without having to be outside. Other people, many more creative than I am, should add their two cents below; I will have to hope that the next use(s) for this place will build upon the existing decor instead of scrapping it. This could possibly become an arts center for the community, like The Katherine Hepburn Theater ("the Kate") in Old Saybrook. --Dave, founder (with Steve and 100 friends) of The Space, oh so long ago, and fan/supporter of Musical Intervention.

I thoroughly agree with all who favor keeping this series of spaces intact and open to the public. Housing wouldn't do this, some type of dining facility would. and note, this particular quadrant adjacent to the Green is quite underserved by restaurants. with hundreds of dwelling units near by (and directly above) this is a logical starting point as to use.

Carl, you have a long and longly appreciated role in personal contribution to our tradition of citizen government. When you say " How degraded we have become aesthetically . . " I would suggest one logical place to start encouraging aesthetic sensitivity and improving the public realm would be to allow (and encourage) public comment and participation in public decisions on major development projects. You are currently a member of the City Plan Commission, a body that approves all major projects yet prohibits public comment and refuses to consider public comment on all but the very small number of projects that get a Public Hearing. And the Commission also refuses to consider public request for Public Hearings.

It wasn't always so. In years past, under other administrations, the public could comment and our city was better for it. We can do better, and Carl, you can help!

I too hope this will become a public-access space, but I am baffled by the comments that it would need or should have a yale-connection. Huh? A New Haven-centered use of this space is exactly what we need and is what the "market" both private and public would welcome. No more yale encroachment beyond it's central campus please. While I'm not the mayor's biggest chear-leader, I loved his quote from an event this week when he said "I just cringe what yale would be without the city of New Haven." Love it.

Ironically yesterday I was in downtown New Haven and had somethings to deposit. When I first moved to New Haven this is the building I opened an account, I first was surprised that the ATM was bricked off then the doors were shut. I hadn't heard anything about the bank closing so I went on the internet and seek Walla. I opened my first Connecticut account at the building when it was Union Trust, then it became First Union, Wachovia and Wells Fargo names change account and routing number never changed. Banks and many business were built to show strength and many modern banks don't even bother to have tellers. The problem today with many buildings that had been in a bygone era is that the spaces are to large and while its brick, mortar and steel are better than structures built over the last forty years to upgrade the technical infrastructure are cost prohibited. City and towns are littered with grand old former bank buildings that are to stately to demolish but to big to repurpose, the town I grew up in was able in the early 1960's to turn the large town bank into the Post Office but the Post Office went to a smaller space in the 1990's. I can't see a high scale restaurant going in there, in this economy and the population could New Haven really support two Union League's? Preservation is a balancing act, not everything can be saved just because it looks pretty and can be a deterrent 45 Church is a perfect example, that can't be repurposed and is blocking any expansion of that block. Another Irony is that in a town that so many citizens seem to feel capitalism and traditional religion are the root of all evil that when an old bank structure or church faces the wrecking ball the cry to save the symbols is loud and passionate.

Heather, as I noted, the city is in the (painfully slow) process of converting Church and several other downtown streets to two-way. This will have real benefits for bus riders as well as drivers. But there is not enough space to do this and what you propose. There are other streets where a “road diet” would be both desirable and feasible - Whalley Avenue as one example.

Ethan, I have no problem with shaming tax delinquents. But last time I checked, something like 97% of property taxes are paid on time. And I suspect that Pike, Mandy, etc. are current on their taxes and that the bulk of the delinquents are small property owners.

I think most traffic engineers could explain why Kevin’s perceptions about the potential for a road diet here are incorrect.

Church Street is wildly overbuilt, like something out of Detroit or Pontiac - throughout the day, there are many times where there are only one or two cars for several blocks in each direction. It’s absurd that it has four lanes. It could easily function as a more standard two way street with turn lanes at the busiest intersections. Doing this tomorrow would have no impact on downtown traffic flow (though adjusting signals costs money) and might actually improve flow by removing traffic from other streets.

Elm Street is busier and would definitely require turn lanes at least; however, one of the existing through lanes could be removed today with zero impact on traffic flow. Converting Grove Street into a two-way at some point in the future would remove eastbound traffic on Elm, likely enabling the removal of one additional lane beyond that.

This is the only way to ensure the viability of restaurants/retail at this corner. Right now, standing at Church/Elm feels like standing on a sidewalk right next to an interstate highway.

my paternal grandparents lived in milford
i visited them starting in the early 1940s from providence ri where i lived with my family before interstate 95 had been built so it was rt 1 all the way!
at 16 or 17 - 1959-60 i would drive my then ailing grandfather to new haven to visit the union trust where he banked
he refused to take the "new-fangled" highway so we went all the way on rt i
fast forward several years to my living in new haven as an undergraduate at yale in the early 1960s
at that point my grandfather was dead but my grandmother was alive
i would take her to the same building for banking chores
fast forward another couple of decades and i was back in new haven as a practicing physician
i then visited with my grandmother for end of life financial preparations
this is all, of course, in the setting of a privileged life
but i do recall how lovely the spaces were architecturally
and how serene and calm it all was
we were treated with deference and consideration in a pleasant and cooperative way
subsequent to this, having moved back to the new haven area permanently in 1979, i followed with interest the changes happening inside and outside the building
"plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"
i am cheered by the news that the space may be developed into a more community-based space
and would hope that the arts and performance community, of which i am a part, will benefit from another venue for encouraging the arts
thank you paul for yet another clear and concise article!

That beautiful space needs to remain accessible to the public. There should be some way a food hall could work. Converting it to apartments would be a shame.

A food hall could work. Something like Urban Space in NYC. The hall at East Rock is great, on a smaller scale. The daytime crowd at govt buildings, offices would have another quick place to stop for lunch.

On another note on this article, I’m really bummed the hotel fell through. Apartments there will be better than nothing, but that area didn’t have a hotel, and hotels are a boon for local business. Travelers, for business and leisure, tend to spend money in the surrounding area. That area needs a steady supply of disposable incomes to flourish. It’s the one area of downtown still struggling to succeed.