Complex sentence: They recognized the cultural value of preserving buildings that had been an integral part of the city's history, and more importantly, the potential that the buildings had to be transformed into a new cultural arts center for the area.
Split into simpler sentences: They recognized the cultural value of preserving buildings that had been an integral part of the city's history. More importantly, they saw the that the buildings possessed the potential to be transformed into a new cultural arts center for the area.