MOUNT VERNON — Renovations at the First-Knox National Bank parking lot and drive-throughs are being done to improve security and bring the latest in technology to the bank’s drive-through services.

“The drive-through that was there had been there over 40 years,” said Vickie Sant, executive vice president. “It was lacking a lot of the technology requirements for today’s world. And, for the safety of our customers, we are putting in a drive-up ATM. We’ve had a walk-up ATM there for many years.”

Sant said several changes were due to a change in customer usage of the bank’s services.

“The walk-up window used to be used when the bank closed at 2:30 in the afternoon,” she said. “But it wasn’t getting much traffic any more. And we don’t close at 2:30 anymore. So times have changed.”

One new feature that Sant said should speed up transactions at the drive-through windows, is that each window will feature a cash dispenser similar to what is used by ATMs. It will be controlled by the teller on duty at the window rather than a cash machine.

“When the teller has a cash out, it will spit out the money rather than having the teller pick up several bills,” Sant explained. “The main building will stay and have a new roof put on to match the existing building here. There will be new drive-throughs that will be easier to maintain. It’s an expensive project.”

The trees and bushes around the parking lot were taken out, save for three at the north end of the lot. This, according to Sant, is for security and infrastructure reasons.

“We are going to put new trees in,” Sant said. “The trees that were there were overgrown to the point where the roots were busting through our asphalt. There are conduit lines that carry a lot of technology and data to other buildings and to our operations center.

“And you may have heard there was a bag snatching down there yesterday. We don’t want anything people can hide behind, both for us and PNC, whose employees and customers walk by there. And since we have an ATM there, we are sensitive about any big bushes or trees near an ATM.

“Although it might look bad now it will look good soon,” she added. “We are not going to plant little twigs there to replace the trees. While these will not be as big as the trees we are taking out, they will be a substantial size. I think they will be prettier than the ones we are taking down. The plan is to make it as pretty or prettier than it was.”

Sant said the project is scheduled to be completed by the end of July.