ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Equity Bank customers will soon notice some changes being made to the bank’s 930 S. Kansas Ave. location.
Plans are currently under way to replace the location, and as Equity Bank Regional President Steve Williams tells it, the project has been in the works for a while.
“This project has been in the works for quite a while, and it came about after we looked at our branches around the full Equity Bank footprint and realized our branch on South Kansas Ave. near El Rancho Supermercado was in need of more than a little bit of repair,” Williams said. “We felt we could serve our customers a lot better with a new branch, so on April 3, the current building is going to be torn down, and then at the same location, we're putting in a new building that will serve our customers a lot better. It was really the ongoing maintenance costs of the current location that really made our decision to put together a new building. When buildings get to a certain point, it's more efficient to just tear it down and start again and make the next one last for 30 years, and we ultimately decided that was the way to go with this.”
There were many factors that went into discussions about replacing the branch. Williams said.
“It all started when the bank’s leadership started looking at the condition of the branches. Equity Bank bought the old First National Bank about eight years ago, and that was part one of the buildings that came with it, and we said, we've got to put significant dollars into fixing it up,” Williams said. “But then they looked at it and added how it's a little too small to properly fully serve the customers, and of course we want to serve everyone who visits us as best as possible. The new building is going to be, I don't want to say significantly larger, but much larger than it currently is – it'll have three offices in there instead of one, and staff be able to serve more walk-in customers than it currently does at that location.”
Williams then talked more about the overall scope and timeline of the project.
“We will be closing the 930 S. Kansas Ave. branch April 3 and shortly thereafter, crews will start the demolition and tearing everything down. Construction, from the from the day we close, we expect will last eight to 10 months before the new building will be up and running,” Williams said. “One of the important things we'd like to get out to everybody is, because the branch is going to be closed for more than 90 days, all of our customers will be receiving letters in the mail that the branch is being closed, but I want to make clear Equity Bank is not closing – Equity Bank is very committed to Southwest Kansas, and the only thing that will be happening is the construction of a new building.”
Williams added there will be multiple benefits to the new building.
“If you look at that branch the way it sits now, one might have absolutely no idea you can actually walk into it and take care of business, but you can,” Williams said. “At first look, someone might think 'This is a drive-through only location,' but we have bankers and staff in there who can take care of consumer loans and all types of other business. The new building will be much more walk-in friendly looking, and it'll look more like a branch where banking customers can go in and take care of what they need to. The big thing I'm most excited about is being able to take care of the customers better and overall being more welcoming for customers to be able to take care of any banking needs. Another big thing for us will be making sure Equity Bank is demonstrating that commitment to the Southwest Kansas part of the world. We're already a Kansas-based bank, but Liberal's a long way from Wichita, and it's nice to know we're a very important piece of the entire Equity Bank pie. I want to again emphasize we will still have branches open in Liberal that will be able to take care of all of their needs while the South Kansas Ave. branch is being built and replaced.”
Overall, Williams said, he is excited to see how the project turns out.
“The big thing is, yes, customers will be getting a letter that the branch is closing, but it's being closed for a darn good reason, and at the end of 2026, when we have the grand opening of the new building, everyone will say the project was well worth it,” Williams said.
