Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 17, 1994 TAG: 9411170098
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Valley Financial Corp., proposed holding company for the new bank, unveiled an architect's drawings of plans for the new lobby and reported progress of the stock sale.
About 150 people were expected to attend a reception to update them on the company's progress. Most were those who have agreed to buy or expressed interest in bank stock, selling for $10 a share.
William Nash, manager of the Roanoke office of Scott & Stringfellow Inc., said Wednesday that more than $6 million worth of shares have been sold. The bank needs to sell shares worth $8 million by Dec. 31 in order to open and is seeking sale of $12 million.
The sale is "progressing nicely," Nash said. "We are getting there." He said he expected the reception to boost the sales effort.
Guy W. Byrd Jr., president of Valley Bank, said the reception was conceived as a way of adding "a bit of personality" to the bank's description in the stock prospectus. He said early Wednesday that guests would "get the flavor" of the bank and "the very strong commitment the organizers have to put this thing together."
Byrd said the Federal Reserve Board has approved Valley Financial Corp. as a bank holding company. That follows earlier approval of the bank by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The only regulatory approval still pending is from the State Corporation Commission, which usually follows the example of federal banking regulators.
Byrd said he expects work to begin in January on remodeling of the downtown building and construction of a branch on Starkey Road in Southwest Roanoke County. Current plans call for the bank to open next spring.
On Wednesday, easels in the lobby held copies of the floor plan and sketches by Motley & Associates of the new bank's lobby.
Valley Bank expects to occupy a portion of a building at Church Avenue and First Street Southwest formerly used by First Federal Savings & Loan Association and its successor, CorEast Savings Bank.
Byrd said the organizers will not immediately use space on the second floor of what will be known as the Valley Bank Building. But the organizers will continue to hold an option on the space.
Instead, they will continue to use the space the bank now occupies on Church Avenue east of the main building. The original plan called for the bank to relinquish that space after the opening. That space will include a board room, support areas, automated teller machine and night depository.
The lobby sketch shows a new arched ceiling with chandeliers replacing the present lighting panels. The lobby will be dominated by a curved tellers' counter with five windows, one of them low enough for a child or a customer in a wheelchair.
Byrd said all barriers will be removed from behind the tellers' windows and near the doorway.
Threads from several other area financial institutions will be woven into the fabric of the new Valley Bank, Byrd said:
Valley Bank will buy First Federal's original safe-deposit boxes from the man who bought them when CorEast went out of business.
The contractor remodeling a former Dominion Bank branch across the street for use as a new post office offered to sell Valley Bank the original tellers' vaults.
Several organizers of Valley Bank, who will make up its initial board, have had ties to other banks, Byrd said.
by CNB