RACINE — The new $2 million Home National Bank in Racine is starting to take shape, literally, as it moves towards completion some time this summer.

HNB President Bill Nease said at this time it looks like the bank’s new home will open in August or September. At the moment, construction crews are putting the roof on with stone work starting possibly next week.

Once completed the new HNB will be 8,500-square feet (the current bank is around 6,000-square feet) and there will be 652 square feet available for lease. The new bank, which will be out of the flood plain, will have three drive three lanes, including an ATM machine. The building is being designed by architects Panich and Noel of Athens which designed the bank’s Syracuse Branch.

Nease said even though it may be a few more months before the bank moves into its more modern home, Home National is already planning to offer even more banking options. Those new options include deposits “going live” which means when you make a deposit, it will show up in your account almost immediately (in around five minutes) and the bank will be offering health savings accounts.

Nease stressed HNB offers all the services of a big bank packaged in a small-town operation.

Of course, there’s nothing small town about a $2 million investment in Racine and Meigs County during the current economic crisis. Despite the downturn in the economy and the demise of American Municipal Power’s proposed coal-fired power plant, construction continues because plans for the new bank have been over three years in the making — plans which had nothing to do with either a recession or AMP.

Nease has said building the bank now is “absolutely not a risky investment” and has stressed the bank has saved capital over the years for the move — a move that was brought about by a need for more modern facilities. The currently HNB building in Racine is 100 years old.

The new HNB will be the cornerstone for Racine’s new commercial development district which already houses a Dollar General Store, with room for a strip-mall facility in the area. The Ohio Department of Transportation is also moving forward with plans to create a turning lane in front of the development district to alleviate traffic.