BUTLER — It was the end of an era on Tuesday, as workers removed the sign from the Morgan Center building on East Diamond Street.

The Morgan Center, which was built in the late 1970s by the late developer Bill Morgan to accommodate attorneys who needed an office close to the courthouse, was purchased by NexTier in a deal with Morgan's daughter, Nancy Morgan-McCarren.

Morgan once owned Morgan Management on Brugh Avenue, an office building largely occupied by doctors offices, which burned in 2003; Morgan II, which was an office complex at the current site of Butler Health System's Crossroads Campus; plus Morgan's Diner, Morgan's Kentucky Fried Chicken and Morgan's Car Wash.

“This is the last Bill Morgan property,” McCarren said in April.

She said much soul-searching and consideration went into her decision to sell the elegant building conceived by her Dad.

“I tried to carry on as best I could to honor him, but it's a lot of responsibility and a lot of stress,” McCarren said of owning the building, “so when this opportunity came on the table, I felt it was just the right time.”

She feels the venerable businessman would approve of her decision to sell to NexTier.

“We have a picture of him in the lobby of Morgan Center and that's going to be the last thing we take down,” McCarren said. “I know my Dad would be OK with this. I really feel he would be.”

Workers from Chamberlain Sign and Graphics of Evans City spent the morning removing the sign from above the entrance.

Chamberlain planned to replace the Morgan Center sign on Monday with one that reads “NexTier Bank.”