Editor’s Notice: Jack Becker is the editor of Caprock Chronicles and is a Librarian Emeritus from Texas Tech College. He will be reached at jack.becker@ttu.edu. At this time’s article concerning the Nice Plains Life Constructing is the primary of a two-part collection by frequent contributor Chuck Lanehart, Lubbock legal professional and award-winning Western historical past author.
Mom Nature boldly tried to degree the one elevated place in a famously flat neighborhood, however virtually 55 years later, Lubbock’s tallest constructing nonetheless stands. Some imagine the place is twisted, haunted or in any other case undesirable, an emblem of a declining downtown space. Others contemplate the tower an emblem of metropolis heart restoration. What’s the true story of the Nice Plains Life/Metro Tower/NTS Tower/Metro Tower Lofts Constructing?
Between 1940 and 1950, Lubbock was the second fastest-growing metropolis in america (behind Albuquerque), so to accommodate the anticipated industrial demand, a skyscraper was so as.
In 1952, building started on a $2.5 million, towering 20-story workplace constructing on the northeast nook of Broadway and Avenue L. The house was previously occupied by the longtime residence of Lubbock’s pioneer Wheelock household.
The developer, Realty Equities Corp. of New York, employed famous Abilene architect David S. Citadel, who designed the construction in mid-twentieth century Worldwide Model. Hailed because the tallest constructing between Fort Value and Denver, it will rise 274 toes, dwarfing all different constructions in Lubbock.
Based on a 1953 newspaper article, “The Lubbock skyscraper now underneath building could be the perfect place on the town to be when it’s completed, in case a twister ought to hit. Such buildings are tougher to tear down. Tornadoes which have hit different cities . . . have proved multi-storied metal strengthened buildings can climate the storm.”
The article continued, “When the constructing is accomplished, together with a brand new $1,000,000 plus retailer for Dunlap’s simply throughout the road . . . and completion
of the brand new First Methodist Church, the downtown enterprise part of Lubbock may have gained a brand new ‘glamour’ look surpassing the wildest goals of some years previous.”
Opened for enterprise in 1955, the highest flooring was topped with giant neon indicators studying “Nice Plains Life,” an area insurance coverage firm which occupied a number of flooring of the constructing. Alas, the indicators weren’t seen in Lamesa, 60 miles south, as promoters had hoped. Smaller indicators on the primary flooring gave discover Lubbock’s venerable First Nationwide Financial institution additionally now known as the place residence.
Amongst different companies which leased house within the constructing’s 110,000 sq. toes had been regulation companies, architects, authorities workplaces, physicians and dentists. The High of the Plains restaurant shared the twentieth flooring with radio station KLLL, the place younger disc jockey Waylon Jennings spun data and frolicked together with his pal Buddy Holly.
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal printed adverts virtually day by day soliciting tenants, touting the constructing as “absolutely air-conditioned,” with “excellent janitor service and noise-proof ceilings” and “very cheap” rents. However by 1970, First Nationwide Financial institution, main regulation companies and even the Nice Plains Life Insurance coverage Firm had relocated. Simply 50 per cent of the constructing was occupied.
When the historic tornado reached downtown Lubbock the evening of Could 11, 1970, it was a monster with winds exceeding 200 miles per hour, and the Nice Plains Life Constructing stood in its lethal path. The twister was one of many largest and most harmful recorded. Twenty-six individuals had been killed, a whole lot had been injured, and property harm was estimated at $840 million ($6.7 billion in 2024 {dollars}).
The Nice Plains Life Constructing—simply six blocks from the twister’s major monitor—took successful on the southwest nook because the storm proceeded in its southwest to north northeast path. Wind velocity close to the highest of the constructing reached 220 mph. Occupants who escaped the construction through the storm reported it was transferring “like a ship rolling within the sea.”
Aerial images taken shortly after the catastrophe present the constructing standing majestically amid stark devastation within the surrounding space. Everybody was anxious the 20-story monolith would quickly fall. Home windows had been damaged, bricks had been blown away, and there have been reviews the construction was noticeably
swaying. A civil protection truck rolled via close by streets warning, “Get again, the Nice Plains Constructing is falling!”
Inside days, engineers examined all 20 flooring and got here away satisfied the tower was structurally steady and wouldn’t topple. Lawyer Clancey Brazill, who was within the constructing when the twister struck, mentioned, “I’ll provide you with an Oklahoma assure that if that constructing didn’t fall Monday evening it by no means will.”
However, locals feared the psychological impact of the constructing being hit by the tornado would hinder future operations there. They had been proper, and for years, the vacant construction was residence solely to pigeons and vandals.
Half two of this collection can be printed in subsequent Sunday’s Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
This text initially appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Caprock Chronicles Great Plains Life Building and 1970 Lubbock tornado
