Inland Northwest Bank says it's remodeling its main branch, located on the first floor of the Paulsen Center, at 421 W. Riverside downtown.

Randall Fewel, the bank's president and CEO, says the $650,000 project is the first extensive renovation of the branch lobby in the 23 years the institution has occupied space in the Paulsen. The remodel started at the end of April and is expected to be completed by early October.

Leone & Keeble Inc., of Spokane, is remodeling the 12,000-square-foot space in three phases so the branch can continue to operate during construction, says Brendan Monroe, a project manager with the construction company.

Monroe says the project includes removing most of the interior walls and reconfiguring the branch's layout. He says the builder also plans to provide new finishes on floors, cabinets, doors, and ceilings. In addition, new lights will be installed, and the office will be repainted.

Fewel says, "Fewer people come into the lobby today than they did 20 years ago."

Because of that, he says, the remodel will leave the bank with less lobby space and more office space. He says the remodel will cut the lobby space from roughly 2,100 square feet to about 1,400 square feet.

"We centralized a lot of the deposit operation functions that used to take place in the branches. Part of the remodel was to make the space more efficient," Fewel says.

He says the bank recently renewed its lease for the space in the Paulsen Center, and as part of that agreement the bank was given a tenant-improvement allowance, which it is using for the current remodel.

In recent weeks, protesters have stood in front of the INB branch with a banner that reads, "Shame On Randy Fewel." Fewel says he believes the banner and protesters stem from INB not using union carpenters for its remodel. He says INB chose Leone & Keeble as the contractor because it has been a longtime customer of the bank.

"I've received 12 phone calls about that banner, and 11 of those have been supportive of me and Inland Northwest Bank," Fewel says.

INB has occupied space in the Paulsen Center since 1989, when the bank was founded. In all, it operates 11 branches in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.