BANKING/FINANCE

Prayer for Parcel: The closing of a Bank of Newport branch in Lido Village earlier this month has put the pinch on a local church.

The bank branch, which was consolidated with another nearby, is on land owned by St. James Episcopal Church. The rector had been praying that the rent-paying bank wouldn’t leave but couldn’t do much else about it.

“Of course, we would have preferred it if the bank had decided to stay because we have enjoyed a good tenant-owner relationship,” St. James Rector David C. Anderson said. “But it was a business decision for them, and we wish them the best.”

The church doesn’t know exactly what it will do with the 32,000-square-foot site, just yards from the bridge to Lido Island. Though it may sell the valuable parcel some day, the church wants to lease it to a new tenant.

The church, which acquired the property from the bank in 1985, will need the property for parking once it starts expanding in the mid-1990s, said George Coffin, a parishioner and financial adviser to Anderson.

Because of its expansion plans, the church couldn’t offer the bank a long-term lease, he said. The property, is best suited for a business seeking a short-term lease, he said, but such a tenant may be hard to find.