CLEVELAND — Cleveland Buckeye Road Huntington Bank customers are still holding onto hope that their bank branch will reopen later this year after Huntington Bank confirmed it withdrew its application to bank regulators to close the location permanently.
Huntington Bank said the move still has them temporarily closing the branch on Feb. 9 but leaving the ATM operational.
Huntington Bank announced last fall that it would be closing the location due to ongoing crime and safety concerns for customers and employees, even though more than 700 residents signed a petition submitted to the company that they wanted the branch to stay open and serve the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
Rudy Thompson Sr. and his wife Shirley have owned and operated the Buckeye Road Sunoco for more than 40 years and told News 5 that if the bank branch were to close permanently, it would be a huge loss for the neighborhood.
“And when they leave we won’t have nowhere to go, it’s hard for my wife and I to go to another bank, we bank so much there, constantly every single day," Thompson said. “Please stay, please don’t leave us, please don’t leave us, we need you very badly.”
The City of Cleveland is responding and is now set to host two meetings to try and address Huntington Bank's crime concerns. East 128 Street Block Club President Rob Render told News 5 a meeting is scheduled for Feb. 15 and will include Huntington Bank representatives, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, U.S. Representative Shontel Brown, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Cleveland Council President Blaine Griffin and key leaders with the Cleveland Police Department.
Render said a second meeting, set up by the Shaker Square Alliance, is set for Feb. 29 to discuss a safety and security plan for the neighborhood. Render told News 5 he doesn't believe Huntington Bank is giving his neighborhood a fair opportunity to keep its bank branch.
"If this problem existed in Murray Hill, Detroit-Shoreway, Ohio City, Tremont, any of those places, Kamm’s Corners, the bank would sit down with these stakeholders and work this problem out," Render said.
Huntington Bank issued the following statement in response to our story:
As we’ve communicated in the past, while the Buckeye branch will close February 9, we will work with the city in the event actions can be taken to address the safety concerns for our customers and employees.
In the meantime, the closure is considered temporary. While there’s no formal process to communicate a temporary closure to the OCC, we have shared our updated plans with them. While we have withdrawn the initial filing, nothing has changed in our plans since the last time we updated you."
Meanwhile, Buckeye Huntington Bank customers like Tamara Chappell are hoping the company will re-open their bank later in 2024 and believe Huntington Bank should not base its decision on crime concerns.
"They withdrew their application to permanently close, but really, it’s just a 6-month delay, Chappell said. “They’re very inconsistent; they say they want safety, but they don’t give us a list of what safety means to them."
Huntington customer Jarrod Amir Shakir told News 5 that the move to close the branch would cause a huge loss in neighborhood services.
“They’re kind of just trying to pass the buck off onto the city to try and be the crime deterrent here," Shakir said. “With my home loan, my mortgage with Huntington Bank I think it’s a slap in the face and such a huge divestment for them to leave.”
Pastor Anthony Thomas said closing the branch will hurt low-income families who don't have internet service, can't bank online, and don't have access to a personal vehicle to drive to another Huntington Bank location."
“You got elderly people here that can’t get to other banks, so for them to just up and move out almost overnight is not fair to the people in this neighborhood,” Thomas said.
Chip Bromely and Mary Boyle with citizen group Bank on Buckeye told News 5 they believe Huntington Bank is using crime as an excuse to abandon its commitment to the neighborhood.
“We're still waiting to find out where is Huntington Bank, are they here, are they going to stay here, are they going to work with us in making the neighborhood better," Boyle said. “It is not Cleveland that is the reason Huntington Bank is closing, it’s not Cleveland’s fault.”
"Show us a study, give us some data that would tell us it is crime in the neighborhood," Bromley said. “We want them to stay in the neighborhood, provide credit lending and investment, that’s what we need to rebuild the neighborhood.”
News 5 will continue to follow through on this developing story.
