Thieves stole the ATM machine at the Huntington Bank branch on Buckeye Road in Cleveland, months after the bank temporarily closed because of crime.
Tribune News Service
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Residents are calling on Huntington Bank to reopen its bank branch in the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood. On Friday that message took a new form — a documentary available on YouTube.
The documentary was released Friday and aims to showcase both residents’ fight and their discussions with Huntington to find a way to keep the branch open. It was produced by neighborhood activist Julian Khan and his organization called “A Greater Buckeye,” along with Michael Chopra of Black Valve Media.
Huntington announced in October that it would close 34 branches in early 2024, including seven in Ohio and three in Cleveland. The two downtown Cleveland locations closed permanently. But residents quickly started to push and try to keep the branch at 11623 Buckeye Road open.
The Buckeye Road branch has been closed “temporarily” since early February. Huntington withdrew its formal application with federal regulators to close the branch.
Huntington has said that the high amount of crime near the branch prompted it to close. The bank said it would work with city officials to develop a safety plan and make a final decision later in the year.
Since then, only the ATM has been open at the Buckeye-Shaker branch, except for a short time after it was stolen. Huntington and residents have been meeting together monthly.
Khan, who also organized a Change.org petition aimed at saving the bank branch, said residents have met with Huntington personnel monthly.
He said residents have delved into federal data about how the bank was making loans to the community and where it could improve. They’ve also remained steadfast that the physical branch reopening is crucial.
Huntington officials, according to Khan, have said their intention is to stay open. But Khan said residents are anxiously awaiting a decision from Huntington.
“This is a battle that we can’t turn away from, and can’t afford to not engage in,” Khan said.
Khan said residents are expecting a decision soon, but Huntington spokesman Kris Dahl said the bank does not have a deadline for when a decision will be made.
“Huntington continues to work with the city of Cleveland and other community leaders to pursue meaningful safety improvements in the area surrounding our branch,” Dahl said.” In the meantime, we continue to serve our customers and community in Buckeye by maintaining our ATM at its existing location, providing transportation options to nearby Huntington locations and advancing a variety of other programs that serve the neighborhood.”
City of Cleveland spokesperson Marie Zickefoose said city officials have continued to meet and “are aware that Huntington plans on making a decision in August.”
“Right now we are compiling data and documentation on our public safety efforts in the area and plan to walk through that information at our next meeting,” Zickefoose said.
Chopra said the documentary will be the first in a series of videos telling stories about Cleveland’s Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood. He said there will also be a follow-up video once Huntington makes a decision.
“They’re going to see a story about community resilience,” Chopra said. “A community fighting to keep a bank in their neighborhood.”
The documentary can be found on the A Greater Buckeye YouTube page, which can be found at youtube.com/@agreaterbuckeye.
