By By Adam Prestridge
It's going to be a long road to hoe for First National Bank of Atmore.
The hometown bank began its first of many phases on its major renovation of the financial institution this past weekend, which will include a complete makeover of its exterior and interior.
Saturday afternoon a demolition crew leveled the buildings that front Highway 31 between Main Street Jewelers and DJ's Happy Dayz Diner.
Four of the six buildings that were acquired by First National were torn down making the bank visible from the busy thoroughfare. The other two will be destroyed later after a structural engineer is consulted.
It took most of the day Saturday for the demo crew to finish tearing down the buildings. They've spent the first part of this week clearing the debris off the site.
Marsh said he visited the demolition site several times on Saturday and was amazed at how the demolition company performed.
The buzz among bank employees has been positive and exciting.
Marsh agreed.
Although work has finally begun, Marsh doesn't know a timeframe of when the other two buildings will be demolished.
Marsh went on to explain the details involved in such a massive renovation.
Once the area where the buildings once stood is cleared, the bank will plant grass over the area until site plans are done.