Less is more in Midland States Bank’s renovation to its Highcrest Road branch in Rockford

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Midland States Bank plans to downsize in order to upgrade.

The financial services company plans to reduce the square footage of its branch at Highcrest and Alpine roads in order to lower its carbon footprint and do away with unused space. It also plans to modernize its security and banking equipment, including larger drive-thru monitors that will make video and voice communication better for customers.

“Midland States Bank believes in the Rockford community, and staying here and putting our money into here is our way of giving thanks for being outstanding customers,” said Carl Fricke, director of enterprise operational excellence for Midland.

The bank discussed its renovation plans Thursday during a ceremonial groundbreaking with representatives of Stenstrom Co, which will handle construction, Pure Architecture Studio and Mayor Tom McNamara. There was no dirt to move for the renovation project, so dignitaries hoisted gold-colored shovels in a symbolic gesture to mark the start of construction.

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Fricke said the project is expected to be complete in December.

“If you go into there today, there’s a lot of unused space,” he said. “We’re air conditioning, we’re heating that space. We have lighting in that space. We’re going to be shrinking that space down by half.”

The building size will be reduced to about 4,200 square feet, he said.

LED lighting will also be installed as part of the bank’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, he said. The first floor will be overhauled with a full-scale renovation.

“You will not recognize it next time you come in through here,” Fricke said.

The bank will also build brighter and bigger safety deposit box viewing rooms that are American with Disabilities Act compliant. The secure area where those boxes are stored won’t change, and customers don’t need worry about moving their belongings.

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Fricke said the branch at 1700 N. Alpine Road was selected because of its high volume of traffic and busy drive-up, but the company is studying similar improvements at some of its other 58 branches.

This is one of three projects the Effingham-based bank is now undertaking in northern Illinois. It is also making renovations in Rock Falls and constructing a new building in Sterling.

Mayor Tom McNamara said Thursday he was initially worried when Midland acquired the Belvidere-based Alpine Bank about five years ago. However, he says the company has shown its commitment to Rockford.

“Then you see that Midland has followed through on every single thing that they’ve said,” McNamara said. “They said they wanted to invest in their banking facilities. Obviously, today they are doing that.”

Midland, which is a publicly traded company under ticker symbol MSBI, had total assets of approximately $7.44 billion as of June 30, according to its latest investor report. Its wealth management group had assets under administration of approximately $3.6 billion.

Midland is the second-largest bank in the Rockford metropolitan area in terms of market share, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data. It holds about 15% of the market, slightly behind Illinois Bank & Trust.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.