DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, in my own telling. Now, when somebody sets out to announce to the whole Southwest that they've arrived — and I mean really arrived — they don't take out an ad in the paper. No.
They build something tall. Something that makes people crane their necks and squint into the sun. That was the thinking in 1911, when the Amicable Life Insurance Company decided the best publicity for a new firm was twenty-two stories of sheer ambition rising right up out of Waco, Texas.
Designed and built by Sanguinet and Staats and Roy E. Lane, the structure went up as a home office and a statement, both at the same time. And what a statement it made.
Beaux Arts styling, which is a fancy way of saying the architects were not shy, with rich terra cotta details crowning the top four floors like a stone tiara. For many years — many years — that building was the tallest in the entire Southwest. You could see it from a good long ways off, and that was precisely the point.
Now, here's where the story gets tested. 1953. The Waco tornado. That is not a small thing to withstand.
That tornado had opinions about what should still be standing, and the Alico Building looked it square in the eye and did not move. Twenty-two stories. Still there.
Still standing. Today it serves as a landmark in Waco and as a reminder of the city's early economic growth — which is the polite, measured way of saying that somebody, back in 1911, dreamed bigger than most folks thought was reasonable. Turns out reasonable doesn't get your name remembered.
Twenty-two stories does.
What the marker says
Designed and built by Sanguinet & Staats and Roy E. Lane, the 22-story home office of the Amicable Liife Insurance Co. was erected in 1911 as publicity for the new firm. The structure's Beaux Arts styling features rich terra cotta details on the top four floors. For many years the tallest building in the southwest, it withstood the 1953 Waco tornado. Today the Alico Building serves as a landmark in Waco and as a reminder of the city's early economic growth. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982