North Shore Bank recently broke ground for its newest bank branch in Grafton at Wisconsin and First avenues. The new branch will incorporate a stone farmhouse that has stood on the site for almost 140 years. "This event is a little different from our typical groundbreaking, because we normally don’t have a building already on our construction site,” said Steve Steiner, North Shore Bank’s senior vice president – retail banking, during the groundbreaking ceremony.
"But this is no ordinary building project. What we’re building on this site is much more than a bank branch. We’re building a business that we want to be an economic asset to Grafton, and we’re building the foundation for what North Shore Bank hopes will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship with this community.”
The two-story stone home was built in 1869 by Heinrich Anschuetz, whose family opened the Lime Kiln Quarry in the late 1800s. Many buildings in Grafton and Cedarburg were built with stone from the quarry.
Construction plan calls for the original house to be preserved and connected to a new building, with North Shore Bank’s office encompassing the interior of both buildings. The small amount of stone removed to allow the connection of the two structures will either be used elsewhere in the building or offered to a local historical group, Steiner said.
North Shore Bank, headquartered in Brookfield, was founded in 1923. It has assets of $1.7 billion and 42 offices throughout eastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois.
