Carolina Bank officials planning new $1.3 million downtown facility
By Bobby Bryant, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
Darlington may be losing one bank on the Public Square, but it’s going to gain another.
About a month after financial giant Wells Fargo revealed plans to close its branch at 58 Public Square, the Pee Dee-focused Carolina Bank says it will construct a “modern banking facility” at the intersection of North Main Street and Orange Street, adjacent to one of its older, existing branches that will be phased out.
The new one-story building, estimated to cost about $1.3 million, will replace the 60-year-old next-door branch once construction is finished, hopefully by late summer, said Jamie Morphis of Hartsville, senior vice president for Carolina Bank.
“We’re excited about it,” Morphis said. “Our employees are excited about it.”
In a letter sent to some Darlington-area residents over the past few weeks, Carolina Bank said: “Darlington is our home, and we are committed to seeing it grow and flourish. That’s why we are investing in our community by building a new Carolina Bank in downtown Darlington. … We are looking forward to offering our customers the services you’ve come to rely on in a modern banking facility.”
Investing in Darlington is exactly the note the bank wants to hit, Morphis said, now that the city has already lost one national bank (Bank of America) and is going to lose Wells Fargo in February, as well as seeing changes at other banks.
“It’s a lot of changing of hands,” Morphis said.
He said Carolina Bank executives felt this was the right time to show a commitment to Darlington.
The plan has been in discussions for a couple of years, Morphis said.
He said Carolina Bank would have proceeded with the plan even if voters had approved a referendum to raze the 1960s-era Courthouse and build a new one – a proposal that, if it had passed, could have meant massive amounts of construction/demolition work a few dozen yards from the site of the new bank.
That site now holds nothing but an ATM; it was once the location of a Hardee’s. Morphis said officials hope to begin construction in January, and expect it will take six to eight months to complete. As for the building’s look, Morphis said it will be very similar to Carolina Bank’s office on Irby Street in Florence.
In the letter sent out to promote the new bank, Carolina Bank officials emphasized the fast-changing financial landscape.
“You want to work with people you know and trust,” the letter says. “To one of the big banking chains, you are simply an account number. If that big bank is swallowed up by another, bigger bank, you are further reduced to a line of code … and the location of your bank is just another spot on their map.”
“That isn’t true at Carolina Bank,” the letter continues. “Founded right here in Darlington County, Carolina Bank has been independently owned and locally operated for over 85 years.
“Our branch managers and staff are your neighbors. We are the people who shop with you, sit next to you at church, and who you see at football games and Christmas parades.”