Outside, there is little evidence of change to the cold gray granite that has stood across from City Hall in Bangor for decades. But inside the old Sears building, construction workers are busy with jackhammers and other heavy equipment.

In a few short weeks there will be nothing remaining of the building, constructed in the 1940s and abandoned in 1979 when Sears moved into the Bangor Mall.

“This is all coming down,” said Tom Pendleton, the property’s manager. “When we’re done, this will be all open air.”

Bricks, concrete, and steel girders are being removed to make way for a revitalization effort of the city’s downtown area. Even the stonework out front, believed to be polished granite from Deer Isle, will be removed.

Work on removing the granite is expected to start Monday and completion of the project, demolition of about 4,500 square feet in all, to be finished in five to six weeks. General Contractor Cliff Albee said late Tuesday afternoon that it might be finished within a month.

The structure won’t be replaced with a newfangled building. Rather, there will be a return to Bangor of another era.

Hidden for decades behind the granite of the Sears store has been the Morse building. Built in 1914, the red-brick building had been a center of attraction in its heyday. While it contained office space, it also had a convention center, bowlodrome and a billiards room. It housed the Chateau Ballroom.

Now a developer from Hawaii has long-distance plans to return some of the sparkle to the building.

Robert G. Duerr Jr., a former Gouldsboro resident who now makes a living as a theatrical scriptwriter and investment analyst in Hawaii, hopes to return to Bangor the combination business and entertainment flavor of the Morse building.

Duerr plans on renting some of the primary space to local professionals. He would establish a small marketplace, to be named Norumbega Hall, and rent some of the building’s open space to craft merchants as well as local artists and performers.

Scheduled to open in July 1995, Norumbega Hall could be the linchpin for the revitalization of the downtown area, Duerr has said. Drawn by the attractions and the retailers, people would be browsing and buying in the area, attracting more shoppers and then more businesses.

Duerr plans similar changes for the Central Block, around the corner on Central Street, which he acquired along with the Morse building at foreclosure.

On Harlow Street, what had been the Sears building, and the extension between the Sears and Morse buildings, will be turned into a two-level paved parking lot, seperated by landscaped banking. The top tier will be accessible from Harlow Street, while the lower level will be reached via the alleys located on either side of the Sears building.

Contractors said that the renovations were geared toward retaining the history and aesthetics of the building, which had been on the National Historic Register.