By Thomas M. Kennedy
Special to Inside
Community Bank of Ravenswood, 2300 W. Lawrence Ave., will tear down its building — only 10 years old — and replace it with a three-story bank.
“We looked at alternatives such as expanding the current building to the side, or adding a second floor. When we considered the impact of an expansion on customers, we decided that replacement of the structure was the best way to go,” said Ronald W. Tragasz, executive vice president of operations for the bank. “The current building is only Dryvit, not brick or stone, and it has no basement. The new one will be much better quality.”
The first floor will include the retail tellers as well as an Internet café. There will be a community meeting space on the basement level with multimedia accommodations. It will allow neighbors to hold meetings in the bank itself. The second floor will consist of lenders with the third floor reserved for executive officers. There will be elevators.
Reconstituted limestone will make up the façade of the structure. It can be cut into smaller blocks and tends to be less porous than regular limestone. Although it is more costly, it is expected to retain its integrity for many years.
The current structure is at Lawrence and Oakley avenues; the new one will rise next to it, at Lawrence and Claremont avenues. This means that there will be no interruption in service to customers. A park bench will be placed at the intersection of Lawrence and Oakley for people to use while waiting for the bus. For safety reasons, the automatic teller machine (ATM) will be placed just off of Lawrence Ave. because it is a busy and well-lighted street. Cars exiting the drive-up teller's window will be made to turn back onto Lawrence Ave., keeping bank traffic from entering the surrounding residential neighborhood.
On Aug. 2 the bank presented its plans to the community at a meeting held at St. Matthias school. The locally owned Community Bank of Ravenswood, 2300 W. Lawrence Ave., has been a fixture in the community since its construction 10 years ago, with design by architect John A. Mayers. Because it is a locally owned bank, a minnow in bankers' lingo, it prides itself on being very active in the community. "It's important to be involved in the community organizations because they build the community," said CEO Richard Thorsen. "They support us and we support them." |
