Re: Noel State Bank - info request
Date: May 30, 2010 11:15PM
Daveg, I didn't know so many events and films took place at the old bank building but knowing the interiors, I can see why.
As to current use, I think I saw somewhere that the Chamber of Commerce had offices on the mezzanine. I remember there being a back entrance at the time.
I wonder who holds title to the property now. I doubt it is the family that ran the bank when I was there.
The family hired a lot of college students for part time work. They even gave a small Christmas bonus check to us.
I remember there was a man down on his luck with a family to support; lost his job, I guess. The bank president offered him weekend chores at the bank and in exchange he could pay what he could on his mortgage and avoid foreclosue. I remember he showed up once and never returned.
It seems that the banking industry today is in favor of putting up cheap structures that can easily be vacated when business mandates. Massive edifices like Fairfield/Noel, originally designed to evoke a feeling of safety and almost temple-like reverence, are no longer valued in today's financial world.