EXCLUSIVE: TBK Bank Opens In Downtown Bettendorf With New Metro Arts Murals
EXCLUSIVE: The new four-story TBK Bank building in downtown Bettendorf already cuts a stylish figure inside and outside. Breathtaking
TBK Bank commissioned Quad City Arts’ Metro Arts program for the murals, and students came up with designs to evoke a Midwestern vibe.
and colorful locally-produced art on the second and third floors add a complementary cherry to the stunning architectural sundae.
TBK Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Triumph Bancorp, Inc., has relocated its Midwest division headquarters to 1521 Grant Street, opening for business Monday, June 21.
The lucky 102 employees who work there get to see new 27-foot-long murals (coordinated through the Quad City Arts Metro Arts program) right off the elevator on the middle two floors – the second floor is open to the public by appointment only.
“Quad City Arts is thrilled to have the arts prominently represented at the new TBK Bank
The murals were done by lead artist Sarah Robb and 14 Metro Arts high-school apprentices, who included the Quad City Arts logo at lower right here.
building and thankful to have a community partner like TBK Bank that understands the value of the arts and providing opportunities to our local youth,” said Kevin Maynard, executive director of Quad City Arts.
“It is important to not only invest in the arts, but for the youth of our community to be paid for their art experiences,” he said Tuesday, noting the 14 local teen apprentices were chosen in the same way as the annual summer Metro Arts program.
The program provides artists aged 15-21 with paid apprenticeships and development opportunities under the mentorship of professional artists. Local artist Sarah Robb was the lead and supervisor of the high-school students who created the TBK Bank murals.
“Apprentices in the program learn the artistic techniques and applications of their particular genre while developing personally and professionally,” Maynard said.
The bank mural students started creating the Midwest-themed designs in late April, and painted between May 4 and June 2, while final construction of the 64,000-square-foot building was taking place.
“It was a great experience for the apprentices,” Maynard said. “It was wonderful to be inside and painting on a completely fresh wall.”
The new headquarters, which is just two miles from the bank’s previous location at Duck Creek Plaza, was built to improve functional areas
John DeDoncker is TBK Bank president of the Midwest division.
and provide a more modern look and feel.
“The new headquarters has a contemporary, open floor plan to allow a free flow of people and communication,” said John DeDoncker, Midwest Division President of TBK Bank. “Amenities for our staff and customers are greatly enhanced. All in all, it’s a state-of-the-art, Class A facility that we’ll be proud of for years to come.”
The building includes four stories with the bank’s branch, with a planned restaurant and retail shops on the first floor. It is just east of the new I-74 bridge with easy access to the bank’s drive-thru and parking lots as well as other downtown businesses.’
“TBK Bank is a proud member of the Bettendorf community,” said DeDoncker. “Our hope is that the new bank location will attract interest to downtown and help drive customers to other local businesses in the area.”
Investing in the community
TBK’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, Gail Lehmann, suggested doing the murals, said Kevin Gibbs, TBK vice president for marketing manager.
Kevin Maynard is executive director of Quad City Arts.
“She’s very talented with a strong attention to detail,” he said Tuesday. “She’s the designer for the building’s interior.” Streamline Architects (based in East Moline) was the local architect for the project.
Lehmann said it was very important to her and the company “that we involve the community in the creation of our home,” Gibbs said. “We were looking at different things we could do. With the second-floor elevator, she’s like, ‘I’m presented with this 27-foot wall and what am I gonna do with this? What would be dramatic; what would be cool?’”
“We’re always looking for ways to involve the community,” he said, noting she found Quad City Arts online. “They put together a whole presentation packet, with three different sets of designs and they came to us like
A view of the more black and white second-floor mural at TBK Bank’s new Midwest headquarters.
any client. The kids did an amazing job presenting.”
The artists wrote: “The Midwest is a collage of old and new. We wanted to create a fluid and energetic environment of creativity, that represents nature and urban locations. We used elements to connect the two mural designs that may seem very different – but one being more literal and the other more abstract and whimsical. Elements such as the bird, the wheat, the railroad crossing signs can be seen in both mural environments.”
The second floor is a more literal design (including railroad tracks, a stop sign, large bird, brick wall and one-way signs), and the third more abstract – both incorporating sepia tones, and bright pops of TBK’s red pomegranate color, which is incorporated throughout the eye-catching, spacious interior design of the building.
“They did great; the murals are amazing,” Gibbs said of the students. “It’s seamless – the color palette they chose fit the building perfectly.”
“I think they’re great and I think it’s very cool we gave kids the opportunity,” DeDoncker said Tuesday. “And it adds pizzazz to the building.”
Change after 21 years
DeDoncker was involved in the bank when they first opened as THE National Bank in Duck Creek, next to the old mall, 21 years ago. “It was like a ghost town,” he said. “Then we were there when they were literally tearing the mall down.”
The third-floor mural also incorporated images of a railroad crossing, a bird and wheat.
“Duck Creek worked great for us for 20 years,” DeDoncker said. “It had a safe, a drive-through, a central location. It was inexpensive.”
“Where I’m sitting right now is where I used to kennel my dog,” he said of his new office, which has a view of the I-74 bridge ramp. In East Moline, TBK donated its old downtown branch for the public library, and recently built a new 3,000-square-foot branch.
“That was the crazy thing in East Moline – we had like 15 teller stations in the lobby,” DeDoncker said.
With the convenience of the new Bettendorf building, right off I-74, it will be easier for many people in Moline to bank there than the Moline branches (2115 48th St. and 2040 1st St. A).
Build to Suit constructed the building exterior and Bush Construction did the interior buildout, about 16,000 square feet per floor, DeDoncker said. TBK uses one-quarter of the first floor, which will also house a new Japanese steakhouse.
A detailed view of the large bird in the second-floor mural.
“In today’s society, we don’t need these massive banks,” with large lobbies, Gibbs said, noting most people use direct deposit, online banking or their smartphones.
The bank consolidated its functions from both Duck Creek and Davenport’s Jersey Ridge locations in the new building, with 102 employees. There is some room for staff growth, and most of the fourth floor has been leased but a tenant not announced, DeDoncker said.
In about 2014, TBK was purchased by Triumph, based in Dallas. They have 63 branches throughout the country, including Texas, Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Kansas and Iowa. There are 10 Q-C locations, among 18 in the Midwest.
There are staff, including Gibbs, who work in Bettendorf for TBK nationwide. The TBK Bank Bettendorf branch will host a customer and community event on Wednesday, July 28 to celebrate the grand opening.
For more information, visit https://www.tbkbank.com/.
The murals on both floors incorporate accents of pomegranate red (as in lower right here on the third floor) that match TBK’s red accents throughout the building interior.
