Central National Bank officials confirmed Friday that they have signed a deal to open a new branch bank in downtown Lawrence.

Brad Chindamo, president of the Lawrence operations, said Central National Bank planned to open its fifth Lawrence branch by late-March in the space being vacated by Carlson Wagonlit Travel, 800 Mass.

“We think Massachusetts Street continues to be the heart of the city, so we want to have a presence there,” Chindamo said. “If you are there at just about any time during the day, it is just a hub of continual activity.”

The bank is the second one this year to announce plans to locate in downtown. Topeka-based Capital City Bank earlier announced it would locate a new branch in the downtown condominium project being built by Harris Construction on the northeast corner of Eighth and New Hampshire streets.

But Chindamo said Central National Bank was intent on finding a location on Massachusetts Street, even though that means the bank won’t have a drive-through lane.

Chindamo said he expected downtown merchants to be key customers for the new branch.

“We felt like it would be more convenient for them if we were right there on Massachusetts Street rather than one or two blocks over,” Chindamo said.

The bank will lease the building from the ownership group of Carlson Wagonlit. Chindamo said the building was scheduled to undergo a complete overhaul both inside and out. He said the bank would submit plans to the city’s Historic Resources Commission to change the facade of the building to give it a more historic appearance.

He also said the bank was considering adding an automatic teller machine along the Eighth Street facade of the building.

The new location continues a trend of significant Lawrence expansion by the Junction City-based bank. It opened its first Lawrence location at 603 W. Ninth in 1995, expanded to 711 Wakarusa Drive in 1998 and opened branches at 3140 Nieder Road and 2321 Harper St. in 2002.

The bank has about 35 Lawrence employees and likely will add three new employees when the downtown branch opens, Chindamo said.