Are They Taking Volunteer Movers?

The moving list for this long-time resident looks something like this: 20,000 boxes, 1,400 personal computers, tons of furniture and mounds of files.

Oh, and money, lots of money.

Throughout the summer, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has been moving from a granite-and-limestone building it has occupied for 71 years to a $108-million facility 12 blocks away--a 14-story tower on six acres.

Much of the move has occurred on weekends to avoid disrupting the bank’s operation.

The Dallas Fed, one of 12 regional Fed banks, holds much of the deposits of member banks and savings and loans in Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico. Those institutions rely on it daily to do things like process checks and lend it cash.

Not surprisingly, Fed officials have been hush-hush about when or how the money and securities--”in the low billions” in cash alone, a spokesman says--leave the old building.

A key reason for the move is that the Fed ran out of room to keep all the coins and bills in its two-story vault.

Its new home features an underground vault five stories deep with a computerized robotic storage system.