HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – An institution for banking in Holland for a century will apparently be ending soon.
WHTC News has learned that the PNC bank branch on West 8th Street at Central Avenue will be closing on November 17th. Officials didn’t say a reason behind the move in a letter that arrived in deposit holders’ mailboxes on Monday.
Built in 1916 as First State Bank, it was the scene of a famous robbery on September 29, 1932 when Lester Gillis, better known as the notorious gangster “Baby Face Nelson,” allegedly joined forces with Eddie Bentz to take some 70 thousand dollars in cash and bonds, injuring a bystander in their flight. The crime was never solved by Holland police detectives.
PNC is expected to maintain its branches on Lakewood Boulevard and South Washington Avenue, directing affected downtown Holland depositors to those locations, as well as online, for conducting future transactions.