Credit union plans unveiled in Pittsfield

PITTSFIELD – The plans for a major new addition to Pittsfield were laid out Monday night and given unanimous preliminary approval by the planning board.

Sebasticook Valley Federal Credit Union will be constructing a new branch office and corporate headquarters this spring on a parcel between Somerset Plaza and Interstate 95. The two-story, brick and clapboard building was described as “a stately addition to Pittsfield” by Scott Braley of Plymouth Engineering.

“I think this layout is awesome,” planning board member Mark LaGross said. “There is no reason not to proceed with a public hearing.”

Braley explained that the new credit union will contain more than 8,000 square feet of space. There will be entrances from Somerset Avenue and from the plaza. The site will be landscaped and contain “cells” of plantings that will allow runoff water to go back into the ground, rather than into the storm water system.

Braley said the building will be bid in April and construction should begin in early June.

Giving their preliminary approval, the planners set April 10 for a public hearing on the project.

After the hearing, SVFCU President James Lemieux said the existing credit union on Sebasticook Street will be sold after the move to the new location.

The credit union has 19 employees and two locations, with the primary site in Pittsfield and a branch in Newport. Lemieux said the Pittsfield location “is bursting at the seams. Our business has doubled in the past five years. We are running out of space, both inside and out.”