Little Credit Union Wins Big Fight for Historic Headquarters Building

HAVERHILL, Mass. – City officials rejected a bid by a commercial developer to raze the historic Kenoza Avenue armory and accepted a proposal by the Haverhill Fire Department CU to preserve the structure and continue to operate at the site. The $14 million credit union was up against great odds, as the developer, King Weinstein, bid $500,000 for the property, to the $257,235 offered by the credit union, which has leased the building since 2002. But the City Council recognized the $350,000 in improvements the credit union has put into the building, and the historic nature of the armory when it awarded the building. The former home of the Army National Guard had been vacant for decades when the credit union moved in, at a rent of $1 a year. In saving the credit union home, the city fathers are also preserving the local Fire Fighters Museum, which is also located in the armory building. The developers had planned to raze the structure and build a commercial development.