Photo courtesy of the City of New Haven

A former bank in downtown New Haven is slated for new life as a nightclub and events space, long after it was abandoned by its original users.

The grand Greek Revival structure at 45 Church St., next to Gateway Community College, was built in 1900 according to city property records. Two stories tall, but with a double-height first floor, the 20,620-squre-foot building is largely made of stone.

It was originally the headquarters of the Connecticut Savings Bank. That bank failed in November 1991 during the Savings & Loan Crisis and its assets were taken over by a Waterbury-based bank called Centerbank before that institution was bought by First Union Bank, based in Stamford, in November 1996. After a series of acquisitions, that bank was acquired in 1997 by a series of lenders that were eventually subsumed into Wells Fargo.

According to an application filed with the New Haven Board of Zoning Appeal, its new tenant wants to use the 5,000-square-foot main hall, which once held most of the bank’s functions, as a bar and nightclub, but included little additional information.

The BZA voted to grant a variance for the proposal at its Sept. 13 meeting after the separate City Plan Commission rejected a proposal to turn it into a marijuana dispensary earlier this summer.

The New Haven Independent reports that the venue will be called “The Vault” and will be oriented at local college students.