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Wesbanco's Midway branch is scheduled to close in January. |
By Jordan Brown and Gage O'DellUniversity of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
Mayor Grayson Vandegrift is planning the next steps in getting a new bank to Midway, which could involve relocating City Hall and opening a public restroom downtown.
Vandegrift told Midway business owners in an email Monday that if the bank takes a legal step to keep another bank from taking over its location, he sees the site as a suitable place for City Hall, and maybe the current City Hall as a site for a bank.
“I am writing to inform you that should WesBanco place deed restrictions on their property that prevents another bank from moving in, it is my intention to work with the next city council to purchase that building to relocate Midway City Hall and potentially expand our visitor-center capabilities and community room offerings,” Vandergrift wrote.
WesBanco, the only bank in Midway, announced in September that it would be closing its Midway branch in January. Vandegrift said he had heard the bank might impose a deed restriction to prevent another bank from locating there. That would reduce the number of customers WesBanco would lose, and would force Midway residents to use banks outside of town, unless a bank could locate elsewhere.
Vandegrift said in the email, “It has been one of my main goals to make sure another bank can easily move in.” He said moving City Hall “could also help facilitate that by freeing up the Rau Building. I will not rest until we once again have a local, community-minded bank in Midway.”
The Rau Building at 101 E. Main St. houses City Hall. “While the Rau Building is a perfectly suited home for City Hall at this time, I am always open to any possibility that can benefit our citizens, our businesses, and our visitors alike,” the mayor wrote. “I wanted you to know that these possibilities exist and that we are always working to make every wish a reality so long as doing so is fiscally prudent.”
Asked if the Rau building would be feasible as a bank when it does not appear conducive to drive-thru banking, Vandegrift said via email, “I do think the Rau Building and others around town could work for a bank because the one I’m seeing an enormous amount of interest that doesn’t require a drive-thru. I think mobile banking is the future for them.”
Council Member-elect Mary C. Raglin disagreed. “No, Rau Building would not be a feasible location without having access to drive-thru banking for elderly or anyone incapacitated,” she said in a text.
Council Member Logan Nance, who won a second term last week, said he remains hopeful WesBanco will not put restrictions on the property.
“They have sold other properties in the area to banks before,” Nance said. “Putting such a restriction on the Midway property would be a hostile act to our city.”
Nance said he likes the idea of having a “more robust visitors center” but the community would be served better by having a bank in that facility.
“I believe the current bank building is the best facility for a bank,” he said. “I would like to see it remain a local community bank.”
Downtown merchants have long wanted a public restroom for visitors on evenings and weekends, when City Hall isn’t open, but Nance and Raglin have voiced opposition to public funding of a restroom.
Vandegrift said in his email, “It is not at all inconceivable that a 7-day-a-week public restroom could be possible using an existing doorway located near the drive-thru of that property, which could remain unlocked on weekends as well, with proper security in place.”
Cortney Neikirk, president of the Midway Business Association, told the Messenger, "The merchants are thrilled with this idea. We would love to see a visitor center with public bathrooms here in town. As much as we would love to see another bank in town, we would love this space as the visitor center."
Vandegrift said the move would expand downtown parking permanently, since there would not be a need to reserve as many parking places for bank customers.
Asked by the Messenger whether he would ask the council to consider acquiring the property via condemnation if a purchase cannot be negotiated, he said, “I don’t think we’re at the point yet to discuss acquisition by condemnation.”
Asked if he made his original statement to discourage WesBanco from placing a deed restriction, he didn’t answer directly: “I really do believe it’s an elegant solution to quite a few issues, if WesBanco moves forward with placing a restriction on it.”
Former council member John McDaniel, who was defeated in
2018 and finished one vote and a coin flip short of returning in last week’s
election, suggested in his campaign that Midway was losing the bank because the
city moved most of its accounts out of the bank. He said he hoped that “city government can find its way clear to support the next bank that opens in Midway.”
The city had been banking mainly with Paris-based Kentucky Bank, keeping one account with WesBanco, for six months before WesBanco announced the closing. Vandergrift said in September that he did not think that this was related to the closing, since it is closing other branches in the region. Wesbanco declined to comment.
“This is what they do,” the mayor said. “WesBanco as a corporation came in hot talking about being a community bank, but they never really measured up to it. They hit us with fees and charges that we didn’t deserve.”
He said in the email, “Since WesBanco announced it is closing several of its branches in central Kentucky, mostly in small towns and clearly as a calculated move to consolidate their locations in order to be purchased by a larger bank, it has been one of my main goals to make sure another bank can easily move in.”