September 20, 2021
Heritage Ohio recently named Ohio Valley Bank (OVB) as the winner of the 2021 Best Commercial Building Rehabilitation Small Project Award.
Heritage Ohio selected OVB for the award due to the company’s tireless work on making the OVB on the Square project a reality. OVB on the Square was created through the revitalization of one of the bank’s first homes. The original building was built by OVB in 1896. While the facility was eventually sold, in 2015 the bank bought the property back with plans to preserve it for future generations. OVB then went to work on cleaning and stabilizing the facility in the years that followed, with construction officially beginning in 2018. While the inside was remodeled, much of the original inside exposed brick among other details were kept in place. OVB on the Square was officially complete in March 2020. Opening celebrations were delayed due to pandemic restrictions, but the bank was finally able to celebrate the facility with a public unveiling last May.
The project was particularly meaningful to OVB Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tom Wiseman, who carries the bank’s Community First mission very close to his heart. The commitment to community inspired his passion to bring OVB on the Square to life. While he described his appreciation for the award, he stressed that playing a part in the revitalization of downtown Gallipolis is quite an honor as well.
“OVB on the Square was much more than a building project. It was the opportunity to breathe new life into a part of our history and heritage that had been left behind. Every time I approach the building, I well up with pride at what our founder constructed over 100 years ago and what we have been able to do to preserve it,” Wiseman said. “Receiving an award from Heritage Ohio serves to validate what we had hoped to accomplish.”
Heritage Ohio prompts economic growth through the preservation and revitalization of downtowns and neighborhoods across Ohio. Heritage Ohio is the designated statewide Ohio preservation partner with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information, visit www.heritageohio.org.
Ohio Valley Banc Corp. owns the subsidiaries of Ohio Valley Bank, with 16 offices in Ohio and West Virginia; Loan Central, with six consumer finance offices in Ohio; and Race Day Mortgage, Inc., an online-only, consumer direct mortgage company. Ohio Valley Bank, established in 1872, is a FDIC-insured community bank based in Gallipolis, Ohio, and is a state member bank of the Federal Reserve. Common stock for Ohio Valley Banc Corp. is traded on The NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol OVBC. More information can be found at Ohio Valley Bank’s website at www.ovbc.com or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/OhioValleyBank.
