CLEVELAND — It was the bad news Cleveland Buckeye neighborhood residents and business owners were trying to prevent, but Huntington Bank corporate offices confirmed the bank branch on Buckeye Road will be closing on Feb. 9.
Huntington Bank again told News 5 that the branch location will be closing due to an increase in crime on and near the bank branch property.
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.
But Buckeye Huntington Bank customers like Greg Groves and the Ad Hoc Committee to Keep Huntington Bank on Buckeye from Closing are still hoping the financial institution will reconsider its decision. Groves believes Huntington Bank is using crime concerns to break its commitment to the Buckeye neighborhood.
“We have a big bank here that’s accepting deposits, but yet is not reinvesting in this community in the way the community reinvestment act calls for," Groves said. “I think that the city is being used as a scapegoat here in the way that it was framed as I understand it, and we’re not going to get lost in that issue of safety. It's used against this community to keep it from focusing on credit and financial responsibilities."
Huntington customers and committee leaders have spent the past several weeks taking signatures on a petition they submitted to Huntington Bank corporate headquarters, hoping bank leaders will reconsider and keep the location open, which has been a part of that community for 20 years.
Bank customers told News 5 that if the branch is closed, it will burden low-income residents and seniors, who often don't have online banking access or a vehicle to easily get to another bank location.
Committee leaders like Chip Bromley said his group will seek other ways to keep Huntington Bank in their neighborhood.
“We will remain vigilant in terms of this issue," Bromley said. "There are regulators that regulate this bank who control the currency, the Federal Reserve Bank, we believe that they have a responsibility to hold this bank accountable for service in this community."
Bromley told News 5 that the neighborhood was able to get the U.S. Post Office location on East 130th Street to re-open after it shut down and left the community in 2019 due to crime concerns.
“University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic, everybody stayed in the neighborhood; these guys can stay in the neighborhood and make a good neighborhood out of it," Bromley said. "We don’t want just liquor stores, we want a bank that serves the community.”
Buckeye neighborhood community activist Rob Render told News 5 that he wants Huntington Bank to be part of something in the community that's transitional, not transactional.
“We want the bank to do the same thing that we got the post office to do when they closed up for over a year," Render said. “Be a part of the solution not a part of the problem, you can help us develop a long range strategy to deal with safety and security, since that seems to be the issue with bank employees."
Huntington Bank corporate offices responded quickly to our story and issued the following statement:
“In October, we announced that we would close our Buckeye branch in February 2024, due to an increase in crime on and near our branch property. Since then, we have engaged in meaningful conversations with Buckeye neighbors and community leaders about their concerns related to the closure.
Unfortunately, due to the unacceptable risk to our customers and employees, we cannot leave this branch open for an additional 90 days as requested by some members of the community, and it will close on February 9.
We will work with the city of Cleveland in the event actions can be taken to address the safety concerns for our customers and employees. After six months, we will assess if there have been sufficient improvements to safety in this area. We will maintain the ATM at its current location and will continue to work with our community partners to advance programs that serve the Buckeye neighborhood, such as digital empowerment, home repair programs, and local small business entrepreneurship. We remain committed to serving our customers in Buckeye, and we sincerely appreciate their help in seeking a solution that will meet the community’s needs.”
Meanwhile, committee leader Mary Boyle is hoping the Buckeye community will have significant input in the crafting of a safety and security crime improvement plan, which Cleveland Council President Blaine Griffin is leading in the coming weeks.
Well I’m very disappointed, I wanted the bank to stay open, I think the 600, 700 people who signed our petitions were saying that, don’t leave our neighborhood," Boyle said. “I hope Buckeye residents will have a voice. It’s possible they won’t, but I hope they’ll have a voice; we sure will keep fighting."
News 5 will continue to follow through on this developing story.
