BROWNSTOWN
The former MainSource Bank building in Ewing may soon become the new home for Family Medical Center’s Brownstown office.
Dr. Nicholas Lemming delivered that news to the Jackson County Council members during their monthly meeting Wednesday evening at the courthouse.
Lemming originally attended the meeting to get approval for a compliance with statement of benefits for real estate improvements for Family Medical Center’s Seymour location, which opened Feb. 1 at 2026 N. Ewing St.
Before the compliance with statement of benefits was approved by the council, Councilman John Nolting asked Lemming if the former bank building at 1051 W. Spring St. in Brownstown had been purchased by Family Medical Center.
Lemming confirmed the news and said Family Medical Center had submitted the winning bid during an auction April 30.
Currently, Family Medical Center has an office at 210 N. Main St. in Brownstown, but Lemming said the search for a new Brownstown location has been in the works for some time.
“It’s a little too small, so we’ve been talking about expanding in Brownstown for a while,” Lemming said.
The 6,681-square-foot building, built in 1974, served as the location of a bank for many years.
It opened as the main office of Citizen’s State Bank in the spring of 1974. After Citizen’s State Bank failed and closed in 1987, the building became a branch of Old National Bank. In 2015, Old National Bank was purchased by MainSource Financial Group, which later merged with First Financial Bank. The branch was closed this past year.
During discussions about the compliance with statement of benefits for the Seymour location, Lemming said patients have been appreciative of the new location that opened and that business has been going well.
Family Medical Center’s Seymour office had been located in the Jackson Medical Building at 229 S. Pine St. at Schneck Medical Center before the move.
Compliance of statement of benefits is used to ensure companies receiving tax abatements for equipment and/or real estate improvements have accomplished what they planned to do.
According to the statement for the Seymour location, the building added $1.2 million to the assessed value of real estate.
The site originally was supposed to have employed 46 when it open, but that number has grown to 50, including seven doctors, according to the statement.
Family Medical Center has been a fixture in the community since its founding in Seymour by Dr. David Stout in March 1981.