ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280060
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
First National Bank, in an effort to consolidate most of its services under one roof, will move 125 of its 170 employees by January 1997 to a new, 66,891-square-foot building under construction along the U.S. 460 corridor in Christiansburg.
A total of 23 departments, including consumer and commercial loans, bank cards, real estate and administrative and executive offices, will be moved to a new $4.7 million building in The Marketplace shopping center near Arbor and Market drives. Many of those departments currently are located in downtown Christiansburg in one of two buildings on Main Street or on the second floor of the bank's branch office on Franklin Street.
The bank plans to sell its two buildings on Main Street, which are adjacent to the downtown branch office, said Samuel Tollison, president and chief executive officer of First National Bank. These buildings house about 12 of the departments that will be transferred to the new building.
The Franklin Street branch office will remain intact at its current location with little visible change to the daily banking customer. The second floor, which now houses administrative and executive offices, will be leased to other businesses.
"We're very much interested in making sure Christiansburg continues to be a very viable downtown," said Julian "Danny" Hardy Jr., the bank's executive vice president and chief administrative officer.
The bank bought the land for the new building, which is in the heart of Christiansburg's U.S. 460 retail corridor, about four years ago and began construction in October 1995. At first, the bank will occupy only the first three floors of this planned five-story brick building, which will feature a two-story atrium. The two upper floors will be reserved for further growth within the company.
Seven teller windows and three ATM machines will be available on the building's first floor, along with the trust and loan departments. The second floor of the building will house several other departments and executive and administrative offices, while the ground floor will be occupied by a computer room, a large lounge and the bookkeeping, training and collection departments.
"This is a full service office," said Tollison. He said some new jobs will result from the transfer though the exact number has not yet been calculated.
First National Bank, which was founded in Christiansburg in 1905, has had facilities at its current downtown Christiansburg location since the mid-1960s. It has since expanded into a bank with $353 million in total assets with eight branch locations in the New River Valley.
All eight branches will remain the same. New branches in Dublin and Shawsville are expected to open in mid-summer, each with four tellers, three drive-up lanes, an ATM machine, a branch manager and a customer service representative.
Tollison said the bank wanted to consolidate its services in a visible, central location, especially since these services have been scattered throughout different areas during the last 18 years.
"Our opinion is [the 460 corridor] is going to continue to expand and that's going to be the traffic center of the triad area," he said.
Kathy Mantz, executive director of the Christiansburg-Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, downplayed the move.
"I don't think it's going to have a negative impact [on downtown Christiansburg]," she said. "First National Bank has been in the downtown area and will continue to be there."
Rocco Capozzi, a candidate for Town Council whose wife owns the Evergreen Bed and Breakfast inn near downtown, said, "To me, it's always sad when we move operations out of downtown. ... I think going to the mall is very inconvenient. ... I hope that people feel like they can still do their banking downtown, because when you take everything to the mall, you lose something."
Staff writer Ken Singletary contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC:by CNB