Three buildings in the complex will be demolished; the 1942 clock tower will remain. (Preservation Dallas)

When three of four buildings of the Dallas Mercantile Bank Complex are demolished this winter, the buildings won't be the only things coming down. Inside them are dozens and dozens of pieces of 50-year-old art, also endangered by the demolition.

"It's mostly murals and mosaics," says Dwayne Jones, executive director of Preservation Dallas. Except for the original c. 1942 clock-tower structure, the bank buildings, vacant since 1992, are being torn down for a $250 million apartment complex and park development project by Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises. Forest City, which is donating $20,000 towards the removal of the art, says no one should be concerned about the art's fate.

"A substantial amount of the artwork will be saved," says David Levey, executive vice president for Forest City. "Much of it is embedded in the walls and would be very, very difficult to remove, however. We will take out what we can."

Preservationists aren't as confident that the art will be rescued. "We just don't know at this point," Jones says. In addition to Forest City's $20,000 contribution, the city is donating $12,000, but estimates for the entire removal of the artwork are around $200,000, according to Jones.

California artist Millard Sheets (1907-1989), who did commissions for many public buildings, designed much of the artwork. "He was a very well known 20th-century muralist," Jones says, describing the art as "very dramatic," with details such as tiles on the elevator doors. The complex also features an Octavio Medellin-designed stained-glass ceiling.

The art, if saved, could be placed in other office buildings or displayed in one large museum exhibit. Preservation Dallas has hired a conservator to visit the buildings to assess the cost of removing each piece, but the asbestos abatement process began on Dec. 13, and time is running out. "We have about a month, maybe two or three," Jones says.

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