After hearing from neighbors and elected officials, a big bank has backed off plans to close a branch in a historically Black neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts.
TD Bank will keep a full-service branch in Mason Square, however with reduced hours. The location will be open Mondays and Fridays 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
An ATM is available 24/7.
Speaking with Dr. Alan Chartock on WAMC’s Congressional Corner, Democratic Congressman Richard Neal of Springfield explained that he telephoned the president of TD Bank to urge that the branch remain open.
"By avoiding a banking desert in Mason Square, we have once again come through for the people of Springfield and for people in a minority neighborhood," Neal said.
There’s been a bank at that location in Mason Square for 40 years.