With redevelopment work well underway at Medical Park Tower, Lillibridge Healthcare Services today announced that the two lobby murals painted in 1967 by Mexican artist Rafael Navarro Barajas will be donated to the Hage family.? M.K. Hage, the original building developer, commissioned the artwork and was a close friend of the artist.

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Removal of the two murals will be undertaken by LA-based Fine Art Conservation Laboratories (FACL). The work began Monday, June 21 under the care of expert mural conservator Scott M. Haskins and is expected to take one week due to the complexity of removing safely the canvas from the walls that they are adhered to. The murals will then be transported to the FACL lab for repair and restoration.

?We are excited to return a piece of the building?s history to the M.K.Hage family to be reinstalled into another building in Austin, preserving the murals and their culture heritage for future generations,? said Dan Minning, Lillibridge Executive Vice President, Property Management & Leasing. ?We are grateful to have identified the highly expert, art preservation and restoration specialists Fine Art Conservation Laboratories who have determined a safe method for conserving and relocating the murals, and to the local arts community for their support.?

Located on the campus of Ascension?s Seton Medical Center in the heart of the city?s medical district, the Medical Park Tower redevelopment is transforming the 160,000 square foot building into a sleek, state-of-the-art medical facility designed to LEED? standards for sustainable buildings.?The $30 million project will cover all aspects of the building including:

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* An enhanced faáade with new glazing, removal of exterior fins, and new roof systems

* Upgraded mechanical and plumbing systems

* Modernized elevators and equipment

* Common area renovations

* New wayfinding designs and digital signage throughout the property

* New covered entrances to the building

* Installation of energy efficient LED lighting

* Accessibility enhancements throughout the facility including 8 new accessible parking spaces near the south entrances

* New outdoor green space sitting/meditation area near the south entrances

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About Fine Art Conservation Laboratories

Working professionally since 1975 but established in 1986, the firm works on murals nationwide, and extensively throughout Texas such as the national treasure civil rights mural by John Biggers in Houston, the incredibly creative installation of 90 ft of Buck Winn mural in the Alkek Library of Texas State University in San Marcos and the monumental murals of Fair Park in Dallas by Carlo Ciampaglia, among many other mural conservation projects.

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