ERIE – Erie Federal Credit Union (Erie FCU) today announced the building of its new operations center that will include a full-service branch location at the former Glenwood Elementary School at 3503 Peach Street. Official groundbreaking will commence on December 18 with the build
anticipated to be a 14-month project scheduled to begin as early as January 2016.
“Our strong growth has created a need for additional staff and space in order to meet the evolving needs of our membership”, said Brian Waugaman, CEO of Erie FCU. “The Board of Directors and our management team feel this groundbreaking is the beginning of a new era where we can bring our ‘people helping people’ approach to financial services to even more individuals, families and small businesses in both Erie and Crawford counties.”
Waugaman added, “The process of procuring this site for our new corporate center and branch has been years in the making. Almost 10 years of study and analysis backed our decision to build in this prime location connecting downtown Erie and the upper Peach Street corridor. We purchased the Glenwood property in 2013 and have spent the last three years developing our ideas to ensure we got it right. This is by far the most significant investment Erie FCU has ever made, and it is a reflection of our continued commitment to our members, our employees and the Erie community.”
“We are additionally excited with this news as 2016 will also mark eighty years of serving our valued membership,” said Waugaman. “Renovating a former school building speaks to our history and positions us for future growth and investment in our local communities.”
Among many outstanding features, the renovated 41,000-square-foot facility will include a 3,000-square-foot, full-service branch dedicated to member facing operations. The remainder of the facility provides a flexible floorplan allowing for future growth and expansion to support increasing member demand. A variety of financial services will be offered at this location including: new account opening, consumer and business loans, traditional face-to-face teller transactions, drive-thru service including drive-up ATM and night depository, safe deposit boxes and wealth management services. With the community as a main focus and priority, there will also be a large multi-purpose community room available for local partner and special event gatherings.
“From the beginning, we were very much interested in ensuring that 100 percent of the economic impact of this project remained right here in Erie County. This was very important to us,” said Waugaman. “Because investing in Erie is critical, we are extremely proud of the fact that this project will provide a much-needed boost to the local economy by employing local architects, contractors and tradesmen. Erie-based firms, Bostwick Design Partnership and Perry Construction were selected for building design and overall construction management services.”
“The vision for this design was to introduce a new landmark to Erie that everyone can be proud of and enable us to deepen relationships within our community while enhancing the lives of our members as well as create new efficiencies in our operations,” Waugaman added.
Erie FCU’s current headquarters on 1959 East 36th Street will be closed once the new building is complete.
For more information, visit www.eriefcu.org.
