The historic mosaics inside and outside the long-vacant Chase Bank building at the intersection of Mission Bay Drive and Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach are safe.

A spokesperson for Family Health Centers of San Diego, which now owns the former bank building at 4650 Mission Bay Drive, confirmed the property is now theirs and that they’ve heard the community’s call to preserve the building and its historic artwork.

“We bought the building a couple of months ago and we’re going to build a new health center there and the mosaics are going to stay – those are iconic,” said Fran Butler-Cohen, CEO of Family Health Centers of San Diego. “This building, its mosaics, and its architectural design are very unique and we want to keep it.”

Butler-Cohen added they had been getting calls from area residents wondering about the fate of the mosaics until they posted a sign recently on the property announcing that artwork would be retained.

Also remaining will be the sea lion statue in front of the building, though it is to be re-positioned. “We’re going to move that sea lion, which is set back, to create something more iconic to the entryway to Pacific and Mission Beach,” said Butler-Cohen adding, “We’re going to push it up closer to the sidewalk, so it can be almost an entryway point to the beach communities.”

Butler-Cohen talked about other efforts to refurbish the building before the health center can move in. They’re going to be preserving the wood treatments inside the structure, which she characterized as being “beautiful.”

She added: “We’re consulting with design services to decide if we can frame them (mosaics) so they can pop out more, though that’s still preliminary. We’re going to clean it (building) up, remodel inside, keep the character of the building and on the outside, and move the sea lion (statue) to a more prominent spot while putting in all-new landscaping.”

The health center administrator estimated that, with permitting and all the rehabbing that needs to be done, the new healthcare facility could “probably open within 24 months and be something the beach communities will be proud of.”

Family Health operates 90 facilities countywide including 22 primary care clinics, 20 behavioral health facilities, eight dental clinics, four vision clinics, three mobile medical units, two mobile counseling centers, two physical rehabilitation clinics, two urgent care centers, a pharmacy, and an outpatient substance use treatment program.

JPMorgan Chase Bank, which had closed that Mission Bay Drive bank branch, previously applied for a coastal development permit to demolish the bank building there. That permit ultimately lapsed and the application was withdrawn, leaving the fate of that New Formalist-style building built in 1977 in doubt.

New Formalism-style buildings have a carefully organized hierarchy of space, and an emphasis is placed on the structural grid of the building. A single-volume structure is preferred, and the buildings are often separated from nature by being set on a raised podium or base.

Millard Sheets, a mid-20th century artist renowned for designing elaborate art on bank walls reflecting California’s history, is credited with having done the mosaic work on the building, which had previously been a Home Savings & Loan.

To distinguish itself from its competition, Home Savings & Loan reportedly partnered with Sheets, commissioning him to do mosaics and other artwork on its bank branches. From 1955 to 1980, Sheets was the master designer of all Home Savings buildings, including the PB site. Sheets and his artistic team created mosaics, murals, and sculptures on 200 structures statewide.

Sheets’ style, as evidenced in PB, was to use art to tell local, site-specific histories. Besides the bank’s artistic mosaics, a question remains today as to whether the building itself qualifies for historical designation.

Bruce Coons, executive director of Save Our Heritage Organisation, a nonprofit devoted since 1969 to preserving San Diego’s historic architecture and landmarks, sent a letter to the state supporting the contention that both the building at 4650 Mission Bay Drive and its mosaics are historical.

“The eye-catching orientation to this busy intersection and exemplary integration of artwork into the building and site design, and eight gorgeous mosaics depicting six prominent figures in San Diego history, as well as two local scenes (the Children’s Zoo and Harbor) conveys a significant artistic contribution to the post-WW II development of Pacific Beach,” concluded Coons in his letter. “The building itself, and its artwork, are a masterpiece of modern architecture. And we don’t have a lot of those.”