Was the Kalamazoo Township Police Station Ever A Bank?
You see the drive-thru window and it's a legitimate question. Was the Kalamazoo Township Offices and Police Department on Riverview and Mt. Olivet ever a bank or credit union. The answer is no, in spite of a few people who say otherwise, on the Vanished Kalamazoo page on Facebook.
The original poster, Judd Stone, asked the question, and while a few people had differing opinions, the consensus is it never was. Poster Michael Lueck said "shared building.... Township Administrative Office on that side, Township Police on the other side of the building."
So the drive-thru facility was for paying taxes and the like. Poster Robert Dussia added, "it was originally going to be a drive thru to conduct Township business, never really worked and has been closed to such activities for many years." He added "It was never a bank building! It was built new as the Township Offices and Police building. The drive-thru was going to allow for township hall business to be conducted but was not used as such and the drive-thru was closed and the drive taken out."
Susan Wescott Bennett's memories of the Township offices go back over fifty years. "One of my first jobs was at the Kalamazoo township offices. I was hired as a Kelly Girl back in the late 60s and later hired by the township. The building was totally different then and was on top of a river. I would love to see a picture of the Township Hall, which included the maintenance garage, and the police department, back then. I learned so much at that job, and loved it!"
As with anything related to law enforcement, there seems to be a great story here from Steve Fleetwood: "There is a story about a drunk driver trying to order a hamburger there when it was still paved......it didn't work out well."