TD Bank closing in Bristol, could become new home of Newfound school district

BRISTOL — TD Bank, which is closing four of its New Hampshire branches, is offering school districts in Bristol and Jaffrey the opportunity to purchase the buildings it will be vacating. In Bristol’s case, that includes both the bank building and the adjacent structure School Administrative Unit 4 has been leasing.

Superintendent Paul Hoiriis told the Newfound Area School Board during the May 12 meeting the bank is offering to sell the property to the school district at its assessed value of $665,400, rather than seeking its full market value. By comparison, the town of Bristol recently sold its former fire station — a much smaller building with structural problems — for $550,555.

Board member Francine Wendelboe of New Hampton commented, “Looking at that recent sale and knowing that the old fire station ... would not have come close to accommodating our needs to begin with, something that’s $100,000 more ... it almost is like a no-brainer.”

Hoiriis noted the building the district is renting has cost $650 a month — “We’ve been paying that since 1993,” he said — and they would not be likely to rent space at that value with any other landlord.

The current space is crowded, utilizing a partially finished basement.

Hoiriis said the two upper stories of the bank could accommodate the district’s administrative needs, while the first floor could provide rental income. Facilities Director Armand Girouard estimated they might achieve $4,000 a month in rent for the 2,800 square feet on the ground floor.

Admitting the figure was based on consultations with people in real estate and figures provided by the New Hampshire Business Review, Girouard said, “It could be half that; it could be three times that. It’s always market-driven, so it’s just a rough number.”

Girouard went on to say they also could rent the current school district office, possibly in the range of $2,800 to $2,900.

“I would be hesitant to use the numbers for both floors as a potential rental income,” he said, “only because the quality of that product is, unfortunately, not as high-quality as the bank building.”

TD Bank has invested heavily in the bank structure over the past few years, including “the roof, the entire electrical system, including all breaker boxes, outlets, switches, lights, wiring,” Girouard said. “The majority of the plumbing; not all, but the majority the HVAC system, which is oil; the entire exterior of the building — all of the brickwork has been repointed and/or repaired as needed, and all new windows and screens in the entire building. The screens are still in the boxes. Actually, they hadn’t had time to put them in yet.”

Hoiriis noted it would be a long-term investment, and his team is looking at ways of financing the purchase within the school district’s tax cap. If the school board decides to pursue the option, Newfound would have to petition the Grafton County Superior Court for permission to hold a special school district meeting ahead of the next regular meeting in March 2026. The superintendent said he would be ready with a formal presentation at the board’s Monday, May 26 meeting.

Bristol is in the midst of a full revaluation which would affect the assessed value of the property, bringing it closer to market rates by the end of the year. Hoiriis said the process of holding a special meeting would take about 10 weeks.

“I wanted to put that idea out there, that the offer has been made, and we’re exploring it,” Hoiriis said. “We want to look at what exactly is the market value versus the assessment value ... so there are a number of things we’re going to look at.”