The shuttered Huntington bank branch on Buckeye Road, which community members lobbied the financial institution for months to reopen, will be back in business in October, bank officials said Monday.
Huntington officials said last year that they would permanently close the branch, citing a rise in violent crime in the area. Keep Huntington on Buckeye, a committee of area residents, including those living near the branch and in neighborhoods not far away in Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights, lobbied bank officials to keep the branch open. The group said closing the branch at 11623 Buckeye Road would inconvenience residents and potentially leave them more vulnerable to using check cashing and other high-fee shadow banking businesses.
Huntington then made the closing temporary. Bank officials said the branch had a chance of reopening if crime declined. The city came up with a plan to increase police presence in the area. Crime began decreasing, according to reports by the city.
We’re pleased to announce that our Buckeye branch will reopen by the end of October, and we’d like to thank all of our partners across the city for joining us in committing to the safety measures and ongoing partnership to make this possible.
Sean Richardson, Huntington’s regional president in Northeast Ohio.
Sean Richardson, Huntington’s regional president in Northeast Ohio, announced in a news release Monday that the branch would be reopening.
“We’re pleased to announce that our Buckeye branch will reopen by the end of October, and we’d like to thank all of our partners across the city for joining us in committing to the safety measures and ongoing partnership to make this possible,” he said. “We’re excited to continue to serve the Buckeye community, as we have for the last 20 years, by reopening this branch. We look forward to continuing our investment in this historic neighborhood.”
Resident Julian Khan, who was among those who lobbied to keep the branch open, was elated to learn that life will soon return to the shuttered branch.
“This is another win for our neighborhood,” he said. “This resident-driven effort is nothing short of a labor of love for our community. This is another reminder of what we as residents must put in to make this a neighborhood of choice.”
Mayor Justin M. Bibb said that it took a group effort to reopen the branch.
“This is a great example of how tough problems can be solved when City Hall, private businesses and the community work together,” he said in a statement. “Every resident, regardless of where they live, deserves equitable access to resources like banks.”
In addition to announcing the reopening of the branch, a Huntington spokesman said that the bank had made “expanded funding to long-term community partners” in recent months. This funding for the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood, in which the branch is located, includes:
- $25,000 to the Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc. for safety improvement grants that will help small businesses in the neighborhood.
- $100,000 each to Community Housing Solutions and the Home Repair Resource Center to fund home repairs in the neighborhood.
- $30,000 to ESOP/Benjamin Rose Connecting Our Seniors to Technology (COST) program, which provides digital literacy training for seniors. There will be expanded outreach to residents in the neighborhood.
