GRAND CROSSING — A Chase Bank branch that drew protests for being the only one in the city with a metal detector is closing, officials confirmed.
The branch at 8151 S. Cottage Grove Ave. is closing on Aug. 25 and consolidating into the Chatham Village branch, 712 E. 87th Street, Christine Holevas, a spokeswoman for JP Morgan Chase & Co., said on Thursday.
"Like any good retailer, we constantly evaluate our branch network to ensure we are in the right sites as our customers’ locations and needs change," she said in an email.
The branch's security measures have stirred up opposition from the community for years.
In 2004, the Rev. Michael Pfleger protested the security measures after the branch, that at the time was owned by Bank One, opened.
Last year, Roosevelt Vonil, the president of the Greater Chatham Alliance, demanded Chase remove the detector, which he called "insulting to the community." It was the only one of 127 branches in the city with a metal detector at the time.
The new president, Craig Thomas, said that he's glad that it's gone, agreeing with Vonil that it was "insulting."
"The metal detectors were a slap in the face to the community," Thomas said, adding that instead of closing, Chase should have just removed them and apologized to the community.
The bank had not seen a rash of robberies: between the time it opened and April 2014, it was robbed once, in 2006, according to the FBI.
Holevas defended the security measures last year.
"When branches have a history of robberies or our peer banks in the neighborhood have a history of robberies, we put in the additional security measures like bullet-resistant glass," she said.
Holevas added that the secured entrance vestibule was previously installed to ensure the safety of customers and employees, and at that time the thought was that the community wouldn’t like bullet-resistant glass. Metal detectors have also been installed in other branches outside the city and state, but they aren't used when opening new branches anymore.
"Moving forward, we decided to use [bullet-resistant] glass when circumstances called for additional security measures," Holevas said. "We don’t plan to change the security measures at the Cottage Grove branch at this time."
Holevas' email Thursday made no mention of the controversy over the security measures. She said that customers were first notified it was shutting down 90 days prior to its official closing date. All employees from the Cottage Grove branch have been transferred to other branches, she said.
"Over the years, we have increased our branch network through acquisitions," Holevas said. "Sometimes that has led to branches with overlapping market areas, resulting in neither branch being particularly successful. Currently we are consolidating these branches where another is nearby or traffic is low. It allows us to provide a strong, successful branch that can serve the community for the long-term. Consolidation is occurring in urban, suburban and rural markets throughout Illinois and across the country."
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