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Saving the mural, made up of more than 763,000 inch-square tiles, is too expensive, city leaders say.

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The mural, 140 feet, 8 inches wide and 38 feet, 3 inches tall, depicts many of the events that took place in the municipal arena — boxing, basketball, dancing, ice skating.

Designed by two artists, Leonard Thiessen and Bill J. Hammon, it was the largest work of its kind in the United States when it was installed in the mid-1950s.

The mural is not a standalone piece of work. It is an integral part of the building, said Ed Zimmer, city planner and historian. Separated from the building, it loses much of its importance, he said.

Plus, removing it would be expensive.

His view is not universal among local art experts.

“There is no question that mural is a historical and cultural icon for the city of Lincoln and worth the effort to salvage and save," said George Neubert, former director of the Sheldon Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden and current director of the Flatwater Art Foundation.

Neubert admits he is more sentimental about the mural than Zimmer.

That said, he thinks it could be stored and later used in a variety of ways within a new structure.

"I just think it would be unfortunate to destroy it," said Neubert.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln art professor Aaron Holz also believes the Pershing mural — although not as strong a work as  the “protecting hand� sculpture on the front of the former Assurity building — has value. And he hopes there might be a way to save at least part of it.

Holz said he once imagined the mural being partially reinstalled on an interior wall of the new Pinnacle Bank Arena.

If it's destroyed, he said, it won’t be “the end of the world,� but he thinks future generations will look back and wish at least some of it had been saved.

“It’s no Penn Station, but it is worth having some of it saved,� Holz said, referring to the demolished New York City railroad station that helped spark the modern historic preservation movement.

He said he's heard removing it would be cost-prohibitive, but he thinks it's worth at least having a conversation.

The cost of removing the mural from the building would be "very high,� said Cleve Reeves, an architect with BVH Architects and project manager for the city's 2009 study of Pershing Auditorium.

Exactly how high, he wouldn’t guess. It would take a dedicated effort to even figure it out, he said.

"It’s not like a painting hung on the wall; it is actually tied into the structure,� Reeves said.

And there are differing opinions as to the artistic value, he added.

"It’s a tough one,� he said.

The 2009 BVH study, in which consultants looked at the condition of Pershing and potential future uses, found the mural in "fair to poor condition."

There's damage to the tiles from bullet holes and from water, Reeves said.

But neither the BVH study nor a recent study exploring the cost to demolish Pershing looked at the potential cost of saving the mural.

As part of the 2009 study, Lincoln residents who showed up at an open house were split on their affection for the mural and their desire to retain it.

In fact, 35 percent were neutral on the question of restoring and keeping the mural as part of any reuse of the building. Some 40 percent were in favor of saving it, while 25 percent were willing to let it go.

In recent years, the Visual Artists Rights Act has given artists the right to protect their work from modification or destruction. In fact, the city has been including that protection in recent contracts with artists.

The federal law, however, does not protect work created prior to 1990 and applies only during the life of the artist, said Chris Connolly, an assistant city attorney.

The Pershing mural was created long before the federal act, and both artists died in the late 1980s.

Before any final decision, there will be a public discussion about the building -- and the mural, Zimmer said.

The Nebraska Capitol Environs Commission has review authority and would automatically look at any plans to change the use of the building or destroy it, he said.