The Mercantile National Bank Building (known colloquially as The Merc) is a 31-story,
skyscraper at 1800 Main Street in the
Main Street district of
downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas is the central business district (CBD) of Dallas, Texas, United States, located in the geographic center of the city. It is the second-largest business district in the state of Texas. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. It is the former home of the Mercantile National Bank, which later became MCorp Bank. The design of the skyscraper features
Moderne styling from the
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
era and was designed by
Walter W. Ahlschlager. The building has a series of
setbacks that is crowned by an ornamental four-sided clock along with a decorative
weather spire. The Merc was the main element of a four-building complex that eventually spanned a full city block.
History
The site along Ervay Street between Main and Commerce previously housed the landmark Post Office building constructed in 1889 which featured a prominent clock tower and gingerbread architecture. After abandonment, it was the subject of rumors, plans and schemes, but by 1936, it had been declared a liability by local business leaders and was razed.
The Mercantile National Bank Building was completed in 1943 and was the only major skyscraper constructed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The U.S. government had called for a halt of private construction to fuel supply materials for the war effort. However, most of the tower's steel had been prefabricated and was given a special waiver from the government. The bank lobby Art Deco wood murals were the largest in the world at the time. In addition to the bank and other offices, the federal government took 10 floors to hold offices for various war agencies. Mercantile Bank owner and founder
Robert L. Thornton
Robert Lee Thornton Sr. (often R. L. Thornton; August 10, 1880 – February 15, 1964) was an American banker, civic leader, and four-term Mayor of Dallas, Texas.
A child of tenant farmers, Thornton's early years were divided between school and f ...
constructed his own penthouse level in the upper floors.
In 1947, an illuminated tower was constructed, which KERA used for radio broadcasts. In 1958, this tower was replaced by the current illumination tower and clock. In the 1960s, the original stone façade at the base of the building was covered by a modernist curtain wall facade.
At its completion, the Merc was the tallest building west of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
and it was the tallest building in Dallas until 1954, when
Republic Bank Tower I surpassed it. The building has 31 stories, and when the ornamental clock tower is included, is feet tall; making it the
19th-tallest building in Dallas. It also contains of floor space.
Expansion
The Merc was the main element of a four building complex that eventually spanned a full city block. The Mercantile Securities Building was constructed immediately east of the main tower in 1949 and was 14 stories tall, including of space. The Mercantile Dallas Building was completed in 1954. It was and 22 stories tall with inside. It was built behind the southern half of the Securities building and ran along Commerce Street to St Paul Street. The final addition to the block was the Securities Annex in 1972. It initially was five stories and designed for vertical expansion at a later date. Its of space was in the northeast corner of the block.
The bank also built and purchased other structures near the main tower. The
Mercantile Continental Building was built in 1948 across Commerce Street to serve the growing bank's parking and office space needs. The bank later built the Jackson Street Garage, which contained the bank's large motor bank, behind the Continental Building. A tunnel was built to connect the garage and Continental Building to the main complex via the Dallas Building.
In 1976, the bank bought the neighboring Vaughn Tower across Commerce Street. Prather Street divides the Continental and Vaughn Tower. The bank renamed the building the
Mercantile Commerce Building.
The final building to be built by MCorp Bank was
Momentum Place, completed in 1987 across Main Street. MCorp occupied of the building. The building connected the original complex to the
Dallas Pedestrian Network
The Dallas Pedestrian Network or Dallas Pedway is a system of grade-separated walkways covering thirty-six city blocks of Downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. The system connects buildings, garages and parks through tunnels and above-ground sky ...
to the north with a new underground walkway to the Securities Annex.
The economic downturn of the late 1980s along with the
savings and loan crisis would signal the end of MCorp Bank. It was dissolved by
Bank One
Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, ...
in the summer of 1989 after numerous quarters of earnings losses. The complex was still used occasionally until the building became vacant on February 5, 1993.
Adaptive reuse
In 1985, Cadillac Fairview, developer of Toronto's
Eaton Centre, proposed renovating the complex into a retail center, connecting adjacent anchors
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...
and
Joske's
Joske's, founded by German immigrant Julius Joske in 1867, was a department store chain originally based in San Antonio, Texas. In December 1928, Hahn Department Stores acquired the company along with the Titche-Goettinger department store of Dal ...
. The plan included demolition of the various additions and preservation of the main tower, but the project was later abandoned.
With the increased demand in urban living downtown, there was interest in converting the structure to residential uses. However, the complex was awash with
asbestos, which would need to be removed before any remodeling could begin. The complex was also poorly configured for residential, as it had a lot of floor space without windows, requiring demolition of some buildings. The two combinations made for an expensive reconversion.
Three different proposals fell through before Cleveland-based
Forest City Enterprises
Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. was a real estate investment trust that invested in office buildings, shopping centers and apartments in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and the greater metropolitan areas of New York Ci ...
was able to make the financial numbers work. FCE announced a deal with the City of Dallas in June 2005 to receive
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
60.5 million from the city to redo the building. The main tower was converted to 225 apartments with ground floor retail. The three additions, not considered historically significant, were demolished. The modernist curtain wall on the base was removed, revealing its original exterior and balconies were added to the east façade, although most of the interior design elements were lost during years of renovation.
On the site of the Securities Annex is a new 15-story apartment building, the Element, with parking constructed beneath. A pool and plaza were added for the residents of Mercantile Place, which also includes the historic
Wilson Building in an adjacent block. The grand opening was held in April 2009.
Retail tenants have been slow to materialize due to economic conditions at the time of opening. Jean Michel's, an upscale French restaurant, was scheduled to open in the base of the Element building, overlooking
Main Street Garden Park
Main Street Garden Park is a public park located in downtown Dallas, Texas, United States The $17.4 million park was primarily funded through the City of Dallas’ 2003 and 2006 bond programs and is the first of several planned downtown core p ...
, which lies across St. Paul Street. These plans, however, fell through.
The owner will receive US$5 million from the city to convert the neighboring Continental Building into 150 additional residential units. Also, the owner will convert another complex of historic buildings that
Atmos Energy
Atmos Energy Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is one of the United States' largest natural-gas-only distributors, serving about three million natural gas distribution customers in over 1,400 communities in nine states from the Blue Ri ...
donated to the City for residential use. This project has since been transferred to Hamilton Properties.
Tower clock
The clock tower and -tall ornamental spire is a local landmark and reference point in downtown Dallas. There are four 20 ft (9.4meter) diameter tower clocks, which are among the largest clock faces in the United States. New tower clock movements and hands were manufactured in 2007 by
Electric Time Company
Electric Time Company, founded in 1928, is a manufacturer of tower and street clocks marketed worldwide.
History
Electric Time Company was founded in 1928 and incorporated in the state of Massachusetts in 1932. It was founded by a salesman for th ...
. The clock hands are lighted with LEDs, which replaced the original neon. Above the clock, a series of LED (originally neon)
lights display weather information. White light rings flash upward when temperatures will rise and downward when they fall. A star-shaped light at the spire's top glows green when weather forecast is fair and red when it's inclement.
Artwork
During the 1950s building expansions, substantial mosaics by artist
Millard Sheets
Millard Owen Sheets (June 24, 1907 – March 31, 1989) was an American artist, teacher, and architectural designer. He was one of the earliest of the California Scene Painting artists and helped define the art movement. Many of his large-scale bu ...
were fabricated in Venice and installed throughout the lobbies, stairways and executive offices. During the demolition and renovation process, historical preservationists called for the removal of dozens of mosaics, stained glass pieces, and enamel artwork. Dallas investor and developer
Timothy Headington stepped up with the estimated $270,000 needed to preserve and store the artwork. A local company, Studio van Enter, cut the mosaics free of the travertine and removed the artwork in 2006. Smaller decorative elements have been redisplayed in public areas of the renovated building while the larger pieces remain in storage. A similar mosaic exists on the exterior of the neighboring
Mercantile Continental Building.
Pop culture
* Local radio host
Mike Rhyner from
Sportsradio 1310 The Ticket opens the Hardline show with a time check "according to the Tower of the Friendly Mercan-teel."
Zoned schools
The Mercantile National Bank Building is within the
Dallas Independent School District
The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a school district based in Dallas, Texas ( USA). It operates schools in much of Dallas County and is the second-largest school district in Texas and the seventeenth-largest in the ...
.
Residents are zoned to City Park Elementary School, Dade Middle School, and
Madison High School Madison High School may refer to:
* Madison County High School (Alabama), Gurley, Alabama
* Madison High School (Idaho), Rexburg, Idaho
* Madison Consolidated High School, Madison, Indiana
* Madison High School (Kansas), Madison, Kansas
* Kentuc ...
.
Tenants
*The Dallas Texans (now the
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
The ...
) franchise was headquartered in the building from its founding in 1960 until it moved to Kansas City at the end of the 1962 season.
See also
*
List of buildings and structures in Dallas, Texas
File:View of Dallas from Reunion Tower August 2015 05.jpg, 350px, Skyline of Dallas (use cursor to identify buildings)
poly 2376 388 2608 372 2784 432 2788 596 2836 616 2844 2604 2668 2644 2544 2668 2420 2704 2420 2740 2310 2720 2310 640 2352 64 ...
*
*
List of Dallas Landmarks
Dallas Landmark is a designation by the City of Dallas and the Dallas Landmark Commission for historic buildings and districts in Dallas, Texas, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historica ...
*
List of Largest Clock Faces
A list of permanent working clocks with the largest faces in the world. Entries include all clocks with faces at least in diameter. Clocks can be located on the exterior or interior of buildings, and towers as well as on the ground as is the case ...
*
Wilson Building (Dallas)
References
External links
Mercantile Place ApartmentsDallasarchitecture.info Mercantile ComplexPre-renovation interior/exterior views, The Nostalgic GlassArtwork conservation process, Conservation Arts
{{NRHP in Texas
Commercial buildings completed in 1943
Art Deco architecture in Texas
Bank company headquarters in the United States
Clock towers in Texas
Forest City Realty Trust
Residential skyscrapers in Dallas
Buildings and structures in Dallas
1943 establishments in Texas