Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 2, 1993                   TAG: 9310020295
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GET USED TO IT: IN TWO WEEKS, TOWER'S NAME NOT DOMINION

Friday, contractors working for the bank were removing the crests that were part of Dominion's logo from the 21st-floor facade of the building that will become First Union Tower and the signs saying "Dominion Bank" from the rooftop of what's now the First Union Building at 201 S. Jefferson St., Roanoke.

Oct. 15 is the new date for the conversion of Dominion Bank to First Union National Bank of Virginia. First Union acquired Dominion Bankshares Corp. in March.

The three Dominion crests on facades of the tower and the four signs on the bank building's roof will be replaced by a total of four First Union logos.

Philip Witt, First Union's vice president for corporate real estate, said the new logo will appear on the north and south elevations of the tower. The logos on the bank building will face east and west.

The change will affect 53 branches in 23 communities from Lexington southwest to the Tennessee state line. Branch signs also will be replaced in the next two weeks.

Witt said the signs will be erected, then covered until the name changes officially Oct. 15.

All of the branches will close at 2 p.m. Oct. 14 for conversion of the bank's computer system.

Kinsey Crane and Sign Co. has the contract to change the signs on the bank building and tower. The company is cutting the crests into little pieces and passing them through a window. The pieces are then carried down on the elevator.

The bank rents space in both buildings but does not own either of them. Witt said the name changes were negotiated with the owners.