CLOSING — Employees from the Adams Electric Co. removed the sign at the Chase Bank drive-through branch at 238 N. Fourth St. Tuesday afternoon. The drive-through bank and the Chase Bank branch on Market Street closed at noon as part of a planned shutdown. The downtown banks will consolidate with the Chase branch bank in Wintersville. - Dave Gossett

STEUBENVILLE — The Chase Bank downtown drive through and branch on Market Street officially closed at noon Tuesday, and the bank signs were removed as part of the consolidation of local Chase Bank branches.

The Steubenville branches will be combined with the Chase Bank branch in Wintersville.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced the consolidation of 300 branch banks in late January effective Tuesday.

“The plan to consolidate 300 of our branch banks started three years ago as we looked at our branch base, modern conveniences and drive-up facilities. We are determining which branch banks are best suited for beyond 2017,” Jeff Lytle, a Chase spokesperson in Columbus explained in January.

“Changes are driving a shift in our branch operating model from service to sales. Approximately 90 percent of our customers visit a branch each year and an average customer visits four times a year. The branch bank is key for building relationships,” cited Lytle.

He noted the seven employees who support the full service branch on Market Street and the North Fourth Street drive-up facility were offered jobs at other Chase banks.

The announcement may mean an end to banking in the Steubenville skyscraper after 98 years.

Chase Bank was on the first floor of the building that has been home to several banks over the years.

The building that housed Chase Bank was built in 1919 as the headquarters for the Steubenville Bank & Trust, which later merged with the National Exchange Bank to form the National Exchange Bank & Trust in 1931.

Longtime banking official H. Lee Kinney said the building that was most recently home to Chase Bank was built as a 12-story building shortly after the 10-tory bank building on the east side of North Fourth Street was built by Dohrman Sinclair.

“We used to laugh about the competition between the bankers in those earlier days,” said Kinney.

According to research conducted by the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, the bank became the First National Bank Bank & Trust Co. in 1964, followed by Heritage Bank, Bank One and finally Chase Bank in 2006.

(Gossett can be contacted at dgossett@heraldstaronline.com.)