Four years after Columbia Bank opened its first branch in Whatcom County, located at 115 W. Kellogg Road in Bellingham, the bank is moving to a larger building in the heart of downtown.

Columbia Bank will plans to open its new branch at 211 E. Holly St. at 9 a.m. Monday, June 6. The 3,500-sqaure-foot building was formerly occupied by Horizon Bank, which was closed by regulators in January 2010.

The new location will offer a more central location for customers and provide increased services, including safe deposit boxes and drive-up banking, said Mark Nelson, the bank’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

“The other facility we had in Blossom Commons was always intended to be a temporary facility until we found a more permanent home,” Nelson said, adding that the bank is looking to expand its presence in Whatcom County.

The new location has undergone $125,000 in renovations, according to city building permits, and will house a staff of eight. It will be open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and will be open until 6 p.m. on Friday.

Columbia Bank has 88 branches throughout Washington, including three it acquired in mid-May after purchasing the assets of Summit Bank in Burlington. Nelson described that purchase as “strategic infill” because the bank didn’t previously have a presence between its existing branches in Everett and Bellingham.

For more information, call the Bellingham branch at (360) 671-2929 or visit www.columbiabank.com.