Minnwest Bank customers were notified last week that the Beaver Creek branch office will close Jan. 31, 2020.
A letter signed by Minnwest Bank president Isaac DeBoer, said the Beaver Creek office “... with it’s limited hours, personnel and infrastructure cannot provide the level of service and delivery that our customers deserve …”
Customers with safe deposit boxes in Beaver Creek will receive their own letters explaining the transition, but otherwise, no action is required for other current Minnwest Bank clients.
Minnwest Bank has two branch locations in Luverne with extended hours, an ATM and other services that weren’t available in Beaver Creek, the letter points out.
The two full-time employees in Beaver Creek will be employed at the Luverne locations.
Minnwest Bank has served Beaver Creek and surrounding communities since 1987, according to DeBoer’s letter, but the Beaver Creek location has a long history of ownership changes dating back to its start as First National Bank.
The historic structure was built at 304 East First Avenue around 1917 of brick, stone and concrete, according to Carl Kahler’s book, “Roaring Beaver, a Story of a Prairie Village.”
“Two pillars and pilasters in classic Greek are style topped by four kasotas (limestone). Stone capitals that support a massive frieze are carved with ‘The First National Bank.’”
The book goes on to describe the interior of the building.
“The floor of the bank is Tennessee marble and the interior of the bank is Rosetto marble. Interior trim is quarter-sawed oak. The materials in the bank are, and were the very best obtainable.”
When Minnwest closes its Beaver Creek branch in January, it will mark the first time in over a century that the building will be empty.
“It was a hard decision, because of the impact on the community,” DeBoer said Tuesday.
There are no immediate plans for the building, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.