Toni Caushi – Worcester T&G
Published 2:46 p.m. ET Sept. 20, 2022
WORCESTER – The stately building at the corner of Main and Foster streets, known at one point as the Bank Block, has had a few different tenants over the years.
Most recently, it carried Bank of America logos. Before that, it was part of The First National Bank of Boston.
The building’s original occupant, dating to 1906, is engraved in stone above the massive pillars that dominate the Main Street facade: Worcester County Institution for Savings.
The building, at 365 Main St., is no longer a bank. In recent weeks, its interior has been reworked by the new tenant, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department. The agency has set up operations for the Worcester Community Justice Support Center and Regional Reentry Center.
Across the building’s two suites, the department will hold rehabilitation operations such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and it will run probation and parole operations.
The building’s other spaces will be used for classrooms and for computer labs, job fairs, housing fairs, and others.
“It’s a consolidation of our services, and it’s going to allow us to expand our services all the same time at the same location in the beautiful building,” said Sheriff Lewis Evangelidis.
The grounds on which the building stands today was where the First Universalist Church meeting house was founded. It was demolished for the construction of the Worcester County Institution for Savings.
The building itself is an addition to the one that was built in 1851 and functioned as the city’s first bank.
Both structures were partly owned by a railroad company.
The bank sold its interest, but later repurchased the building and built an extension across the alleyway to join the two buildings.
The Worcester Community Justice Support Center and Regional Reentry Center have recently opened in a former bank building on Main Street.
