Regions Bank has made it official.
The bank will be constructing a new facility on New Smithville Highway with an opening date scheduled for the summer of 2020.
When that branch opens, Regions Bank has announced it will close its other two locations in McMinnville. Those locations are the downtown branch on the first floor of City Hall and the branch at Plaza Shopping Center, which is roughly across the street from where the new bank will be constructed.
“Customer traffic and volume helped Regions determine where to build on the bank’s investments in McMinnville with a new location,” said Michelle Walters, regional consumer banking executive for Regions. “This will help Regions offer a larger, updated location in the middle of a well-positioned retail corridor and it will give our customers and associates a more modern, well-equipped location to conduct business.”
Banking operations will continue as usual at the McMinnville Plaza and downtown locations pending the opening of the new branch, which will be located between Waffle House and Security Federal on The Strip.
A bank has been located at 101 E. Main Street on the corner of Court Square for decades. Regions Bank currently occupies the first floor of City Hall, while city government uses the second and third floors.
McMinnville Mayor Ben Newman said Friday he envisions the city moving its offices to the first floor when Regions Banks leaves.
“We’ve discussed it in passing and we’re probably going to end up moving our administration down there,” said Newman. “We’ll have to renovate it the way we need it to be and that might take some time but I see it as city offices. I don’t think we have any intention of selling it.”
A broken elevator has forced city offices formerly located on the second and third floors of City Hall to move elsewhere due to the need for handicap accessibility. Newman said he foresees the elevator getting repaired and the city ultimately occupying the first and second floors of City Hall.
An exact date for Regions Bank leaving has not been established. More details on this story are available in today’s Business section.
