BANGOR – Merrill Merchant Bancshares Inc. Chairman and CEO Edwin Clift announced Friday the bank’s purchase of Penobscot Theatre’s property at 183 Main St.

The theater is on the National Register of Historic Places and will be renovated starting in June. Merrill Bank intends to add a third floor to its headquarters building and link the bank to the theater with a three-story connecting corridor.

The project has an estimated budget of $1.5 million and should be completed in 2005.