OSAGE COUNTY — The new expansion of the Legends Bank building in Linn is ready for its coming-out party. The edifice at 200 E. Main has now doubled its floor space since the last expansion in 1979. A lot of growth and modern makeovers have occurred in the company’s history, yet, the Klebba family name and commitment to community service remain firmly entrenched. It’s in the financial institution’s DNA. No matter how much a company grows, some things don’t need to change.

At 11 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 12, the Jefferson City Chamber of Commerce will cut a ribbon. Father Colin Franklin of St. George Parish will offer a blessing. President Tom Klebba and his brother, Chairman John A. Klebba, will address the gathering. What will follow is a traditional open house to welcome customers and curious citizens. Tours of the new infrastructure will be available. Hot dogs will be served, as well as cheesecake from Chop House Grille, cookies from Deutsches Heim, and Shaved Ice from Sweet Bee’s. Three lucky visitors will have their names drawn to receive door prizes: a 36-inch Blackstone Griddle, a Yeti cooler, and a JBL Bluetooth speaker. 

The celebration marks the completion of a planned 12-15-month project. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, construction actually took better than two years. “In hindsight,” John A. Klebba reflected, “given the global disruption caused by the pandemic, [this] was a better outcome than the bank should have expected.” 

It was commissioned with a robust future in mind. To accommodate growth, physical things need to change. What causes that growth, though, and facilitates continued constructive expansion? It’s often a steady course that changes no more than absolutely necessary. Legends Bank’s legacy is instructive about how to grow while staying true to a vision. Refusing to alter a basic philosophy has enabled the organization to change the fortunes of many Osage County residents. That also goes for citizens of other towns and cities where the bank has expanded service.

John H. Klebba organized a group of local citizens to form the Rich Fountain Bank in 1913. He was the first president. His brother-in-law, Herman J. Fick, was the cashier. The first board of directors consisted of those two, plus Peter Iven, Henry Neuner, and George Holtschneider. From the same limestone quarry that produced material for the Sacred Heart Church and its surrounding buildings, Fritz Schimmel used stone to build a small bank. That structure still stands on Rt. E, and “Rich Fountain Bank” is still chiseled into the doorway’s lintel. The Klebbas and the Ficks continued together with the company for decades.

In those days, the financial institution was small but strong. By 1936, during the heart of the Great Depression, nine of the 13 banks in Osage County had failed. They included the two banks serving the county seat in Linn. The Missouri State Commissioner of Finance approached Klebba and Fick about relocating their operation from Rich Fountain to Linn. 

“Banking services were badly needed in the county seat,” said John A. Klebba, John H.’s grandson. 

The operation packed up on Friday after closing. It moved over the weekend “in the trunk of a car,” according to John H. Klebba. Linn State Bank opened the following Monday at 200 E. Main St., Linn. That was the address of the failed Farmers and Merchants’ Bank. It was deeded over to Rich Fountain Bank by the state in exchange for the favor of relocating. However, a change of location and name was not accompanied by a change to the bank’s core operating philosophy. Steady banking and good customer service continued. After 86 years, the address hasn’t changed. Nor has the basic approach to business. The name changed one more time in 2005.

When a company does things right, its growth is inevitable. By not changing what shouldn’t change, some things will have to change. In 1962, the neighboring property east of 200 E. Main St., formerly the home of Danny’s Diner and the Fred Wolfe Barber Shop, was purchased and demolished. Then came the first of four expansions to the original Linn State Bank building. In 1978, William Zevely’s print shop, immediately south on 2nd St., was acquired. That made room for an addition that doubled the bank’s floor space. In 1979, Legends purchased an adjacent law office that shared a common wall with the bank. The new owners were able to remodel and incorporate that structure. By then, bank offices were occupying about 9,600 square feet. Operations were still small enough to rent offices to Dr. Larry Klebba, M.D., the law offices of Lowell McCuskey, and the Herndon Insurance Agency. 

In the 1990s, the leased space was gradually reassigned to the bank’s growing work force. New branches were acquired or opened fresh in Loose Creek, Taos, Owensville, Bland, Union, Jefferson City, Belle, and Rolla. This expansion occurred between 1993 and 2011 and joined the previously constructed branches in Westphalia and the East Linn Drive-up facility. Since headquarters remained at 200 E. Main St., a growing support staff required more office space. Suddenly, doing the same thing was causing the need for more change in the form of growth. 

In 2016, Donna Haslag and Chris Troesser, the bank’s neighbor to the east, sold the Linn Printing Building to Legends Bank. It shared a common wall with the bank as expanded in 1979. Like the original bank building, this was a historic Linn landmark. Dating to around the turn of the 20th Century, it had previously housed the Goff grocery store and Harold Starr’s furniture store. The location was ideal for the bank’s purpose. Unfortunately, the original construction was not. 

Demolition began in 2019, and Legends broke ground for the new addition on Feb. 28, 2020. Plans called for a three-story structure to be integrated into the existing building. 

“Construction timing could not have been worse,” said John A. Klebba. “Within a month of the groundbreaking, virtually the entire country would be shut down by the outbreak of COVID-19.” 

Anyone doing anything involved with building knows what he was saying. “Supply chain disruption” became a well-used part of the world’s lexicon, and everyone knew what it meant. Material was difficult or impossible to come by. Contract labor was either changing the way it worked or not working at all. Given these difficulties, it’s remarkable the timeline was less than doubled. 

However, this is a company that survived the Great Depression and some other severe recessions. It has emerged from each of those crises, by all appearances anyway, even stronger. No mere global pandemic would stop this focused institution from reaching its goals. It wasn’t even slowed down that much, although those shepherding the project must have felt like it on occasion. 

The Legends Bank headquarters building now boasts 24,000 square feet of total space. The integration has been done so skillfully that “we believe that those who tour our headquarters during the open house will find it very hard to determine where the old building ends and the new addition begins,” said Klebba. 

The bottom floor includes a large “training/community room.” There’s a caterers’ kitchen and a capacity for 75 people to meet. The street level has an expanded lobby and loan offices. The top floor houses the bank’s executive offices and boardroom. In addition, Legends was able to buy the old Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) building and the former Hometown Lumber facility to address its parking needs. Now, the bank’s employee and customer parking area has doubled. Construction work on the property’s south side has been almost as vigorous as in the building itself. 

Those attending the open house will see a lot of different things. Ribbon-cuttings should display sights not available before. However, observers of how this institution works will continue to see what their ancestors have for more than a century. 

“For 109 years, Legends Bank has not only been headquartered in Osage County but it has also been owned and managed by people who live here,” said John A. Klebba. “Of those 13 banks that existed in the county at the beginning of the Great Depression, Legends Bank is the only one that remains a truly Osage County institution. The other 12 failed, sold out, or moved their central operations elsewhere. We are proud of this legacy. The construction of this latest expansion is tangible evidence of our intent to be an integral part of Linn and Osage County for many years to come as an independent, locally owned, and locally managed bank.” 

That sounds like a lot more of the same of a very good thing, although in a new, bigger atmosphere.