Mercantile National Bank Building

src: upload.wikimedia.org

The Mercantile National Bank Building (known everyday as The Merc ) is a 31-story skyscraper, 159.4 m (523 ft) at 1700 Main Street in the Main district Street from downtown Dallas, Texas. This is the former Mercantile National Bank house, which later became the MCorp Bank. The design of the skyscraper features a Moderne style from the Art Deco era and was designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager. The building has a series of setbacks that are crowned by four-clocked ornamental clocks along with decorative weather towers. Merc is the main element of a complex of four buildings that eventually stretches full city blocks.

Video Mercantile National Bank Building

History

The site along Ervay Street between Main and Commerce was previously housed in the Post Office building built in 1889 featuring clock towers and the leading gingerbread architecture. After being abandoned, it was a matter of rumors, plans and schemes, but in 1936, it had been declared a duty by local business leaders and destroyed.

The Mercantile National Bank Building was completed in 1942 and was the only major skyscraper built during World War II. The US government has called for the suspension of private construction for fuel supplies for war effort. However, most steel towers have been made before and given special negligence from the government. The lobby of the Art Deco bank of wooden mural was the largest in the world at the time. In addition to banks and other offices, the federal government took 10 floors to hold offices for various war agencies. The owner and founder of Mercantile Bank, Robert L. Thornton, built his own penthouse floor upstairs.

In 1947, an illuminated tower was built, which KERA used for radio broadcasts. In 1958, the tower was replaced by the current tower and illumination clock. In the 1960s, the original stone façade at the base of the building was covered by the facade of a modernist curtain wall.

By the time it was finished, Merc was the tallest building on the west of the Mississippi River and it was the tallest building in Dallas until 1954, when Republic Bank Tower I outperformed it. The building has 31 floors, and when the 115 foot (35 m) orchestral clock tower is included, the height is 545 feet (166 m); making it the 19th tallest building in Dallas. It also contains 359,348 square feet (33,385m ² ) of the floor space.

Expansion

Merc is the main element of a four-building complex that eventually stretches the full city block. The Mercantile Securities Building was built just east of the main tower in 1949 and 14 floors, including 213,270 square feet (19,813 m ² ) space. The Mercantile Dallas Building was completed in 1954. It was 360 feet (110 m) and 22 floors with 347,037 square feet (32,241 m ² ) inside. Built behind the southern half of the Securities building and down Commerce Street to St Paul Street. The final addition to the block was Securities Annex in 1972. It was originally five floors and designed for later vertical expansion. The space of 116,322 square feet (10,807 m ² ) is in the northeast corner of the block.

The bank also builds and buys another building near the main tower. The Mercantile Continental Building was built in 1948 on Commerce Street to serve bank parking and growing office space needs. The bank then builds the Jackson Street Garage, which contains a large bank motor bank, behind the Continental Building. An underground tunnel was built to connect the garage and Continental Building to the main complex through the Dallas Building.

In 1976, the bank bought Vaughn Tower opposite Commerce Street. Prather Street divides the Continental Tower and Vaughn. Bank renamed the Mercantile Commerce Building.

The last building built by MCorp Bank is Momentum Place, completed in 1987 on Main Street. MCorp occupies 600,000 square feet (60,000 m ² ) of a 1,500,000 square foot (100,000 m ² ) building. The building connects the original compound to the Dallas Pedestrian Network to the north with a new underground walkway to Annex Securities.

The economic downturn of the late 1980s along with the savings and loan crises would signal the end of the MCorp Bank. It was dissolved by Bank One in the summer of 1989 after a large amount of revenue loss. The complex was still used occasionally until the building became vacant on February 5, 1993.

Adaptive reuse

In 1985, Cadillac Fairview, a Toronto Eaton Center developer, proposed to renovate the complex to a 140,000 square foot (140,000 square foot) retail center, linking adjacent neighbors Neiman Marcus and Joske. The plan includes dismantling various additions and preservation of the main tower, but the project was later abandoned.

With the increasing demand in downtown living in the city, there is interest to change the structure to the use of housing. However, the complex is filled with asbestos, which must be removed before any renovation can commence. The complex also does not have a good configuration for housing, as it has plenty of floorless floor space, which requires the demolition of some buildings. Two combinations made for expensive converting.

Three different proposals fell before Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises were able to make financial numbers work. FCE announced an agreement with Dallas City in June 2005 to receive US $ 60.5 million from the city to repeat the building. The main tower is converted to 225 apartments with a ground floor retail. Three additions, not considered historically significant, were destroyed. Modern curtain walls at the base were removed, revealing the original exterior and balcony added to the eastern façade, although most of the interior design elements were lost for years of renovation.

On the site of Securities Annex is a new 15-storey apartment building, Element, with parking built under it. The pool and plaza are added to residents of Mercantile Place, which also includes the historic Wilson Building in the adjacent block. The opening was held in April 2009.

Retail tenants are slow to materialize due to economic conditions at the time of opening. Jean Michel's, an upscale French restaurant, is scheduled to open at the base of the Element building, overlooking Main Street Garden Park, which is opposite St. Paul Street. However, these plans fail.

Forest City Enterprises will receive US $ 5 million from the city to convert the adjacent Continental Building to 150 additional residential units. Also, in an agreement between the City of Dallas and the City of Forests, FCE is to convert another complex of historic buildings that Atmos Energy donated to the City for residential use. This project has been transferred to Hamilton Properties.

Maps Mercantile National Bank Building

Clock tower

The 115-foot (35 m) clock tower and crest tower is a local landmark and reference point in downtown Dallas. There are four hours tower diameter of 20 feet (9.4 meters). The new clock and hand tower movement was produced in 2007 by Electric Time Company. The watch is turned on with the LED, which replaces the original fluorescent. Above the clock, a series of LED lights (initially fluorescent) displays weather information. The white light ring blinks upward as the temperature rises and falls as it falls. The star-shaped lamps at the top of the tower glow green when the weather forecast is medium and red when it's bad.

src: bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com

Artwork

During the 1950s building expansion, a large mosaic by artist Millard Sheets was made in Venice and installed throughout the lobby, stairs and executive offices. During the process of demolition and renovation, historical preservationists called for the removal of dozens of mosaics, stained glass pieces, and enamel artwork. Dallas investor and developer Timothy Headington stepped in with an estimated $ 270,000 needed to preserve and save the artwork. A local company, Studio van Enter, cut free mosaics from travertine and deleted artwork in 2006. Smaller decorative elements have been re-displayed in public areas of renovated buildings while larger pieces are kept. A similar mosaic is on the outside of the adjacent Mercantile Continental Building.

src: upload.wikimedia.org

Pop culture

• Local radio host Mike Rhyner from Sportsradio 1310 Ticket opens Hardline show with a check of time "according to the Mercan-teel Friendly Tower."

src: www.pagethink.com

Zoned School

The Mercantile National Bank Building is within the Dallas Independent School District.

Citizens are categorized into Park City Primary Schools, Dade Middle School, and Madison High School.

src: chickasawcountry.com

Renters

• The Dallas Texans (now Kansas City Chief) is headquartered in the building since it was founded in 1960 until moving to Kansas City at the end of the 1962 season.

src: upload.wikimedia.org

See also

• List of buildings and structures in Dallas, Texas

src: kotv.images.worldnow.com

References

src: upload.wikimedia.org

External links

• Mercantile Place Apartments
• [1]
• Dallasarchitecture.info Mercantile Complex
• City Forest Company
• Pre-renovation interior/exterior view, Nostalgic Glass
• Dallas Public Library
• Conservation process of artwork, Conservation Art

Source of the article : Wikipedia