Mallick Tower
One Summit Avenue

By Chris Gibson
Skiff Staff

The burnt orange of a slow Texas sunset can be seen reflecting off its thousands of ocean-blue panes of glass. The lone tower stands firm; keeping an eye on the city’s newly developed West Side on one end and the old-flowing waters of the Trinity River on the other.

Special to the Skiff A sign on the Mallick Tower announces vacancies as the owners prepare to re-open one year after an F-2 tornado nearly devasted the building.

Just one year after an F-2 tornado tore through downtown Fort Worth, bringing with it winds up to 157 mph and leaving behind millions of dollars worth of damage, the Mallick Tower at One Summit Avenue stands brighter and better than ever.

Dee Knight has been Mallick Tower’s property manager since 1974. She said that despite the destruction, most of the building’s costs for demolition and reconstruction were covered by insurance.

“We could have had more but most of it was taken care of,” she said. “You can’t just say ‘put a building back exactly the way it was 30 years ago.’ But there were no structural damages, so most of the costs were cosmetic.”

From the miles of new phone lines and climate controlled work spaces to the newly designed foyer and thousands of shimmering blue panes of glass, the Mallick Tower stands as a symbol of Fort Worth’s pledge to rebuild.

And while buildings like the old Bank One Tower are preparing for demolition, the owners and managers of the Mallick Tower prepare for a celebration and grand re-opening on today’s anniversary.

The pride of such an accomplishment can’t help but show in the voice of Knight, who said it was never really a question of if they were going to rebuild but how soon.

“There was just so much damage,” Knight said. “Pieces of the building were hanging off, furniture from the offices were laying all around. The structural engineer, myself and the insurance agent, walked through the whole building. I kept calling ‘Is anyone there?’ thinking with all this rubble maybe someone was underneath, but there wasn’t and that was good.

“I got together with the general contractor (Wes Lockridge & Associates) and our insurance adjuster (Bob Booker with Crum and Forster), and once we were able to establish that there wasn’t any structural damage, it was decided that we would rebuild almost immediately.”

Steve Pond, Mallick Towers long-time insurance agent, said the building required the maximum amount of money allowed by the insurance policy, around $8 million.

“I’ve been in this business for (more than) 25 years, and this is by far the largest claim I’ve ever seen paid out,” Pond said.

Larry Geurin, vice president of Wes Lockridge & Associates, said the building’s strong core helped it to survive the storm.

“When that building was built in 1968, it was not all that uncommon to use so much concrete,” he said. “The Mallick Tower has a core of concrete around its base 18 inches thick. That is what helped it stay intact.”

Knight said many people contributed to the fast turnaround. She also said that despite the tragedy the building is better than ever.

“This has probably been my biggest challenge,” Knight said. “You never know what life is going to give you and this was devastating, but everything has just gone great. We have been managing great, and the building looks better than ever.”

A single shard of glass remains just above the entry way. The glass was left embedded in the concrete wall just beyond the buildings entrance as a reminder of what could have been. But passing by the beautifully modern front hallway and getting onto the elevator, one seems to forget what was and begins to think of what is.

Chris Gibson
cjgibson@student.tcu.edu