Waggener High School - RingBrothersHistory.com

The Voice-Jeffersonian, April 9, 1970:“The Lace Panty Building” by Audrey Janiak“The Lace Panty Building” -- that’s how a 70 - year - old woman describes the imposing 16-story Lincoln Tower Buildingat 6100 Dutchmans Lane neat the Watterson Expressway and Breckenridge Lane.The remark of this elderly friend brought a smile to the lips of John T, Acree Jr., president of the Lincoln Income Life InsuranceCo., whose home offices are there. There are many other tenants in the buildings, of course.The imposing and unique structure of concrete, glass and steel was designed by Taliesin Associated Architects, an affiliateof the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The unusual idea in design is a 16—story building (sans a 13th floor) of a cantileverconstruction.The Walls in the core of the building are of cast-in-place concrete with semi-circular ‘half-round’ grooves 4 feet on centerboth ways.Efficient floor plan: The surface, which is finished in a soft rose color, has its own highly decorative appeal.With 115,530 square feet of total floor area, Lincoln Tower boasts a high efficiency floor plan that makes 86 percnt of thefloor space usable.The function of the core of the building is to eliminate the necessity of supporting columns within the building, adding tothis usable floor space.Also contained in the core is the elevator shaft, stairway and heating and cooling ducts.It also houses the. communication system.At right angles to the core, reinforced “I” beams jut out to meet and connect with “I” beams which are connected to thefloor above, giving the building an appearance of hanging in midair.Basement’s on 15th floor: The 15th floor “basement” of the building contains the storage and important files. This floor,which has no windows, is lighted entirely by artificial lighting.All floors except the 15th are covered with carpeting, cutting down on noise and adding to the comfort of the employees.Acree has reason to be proud of the first-of-its kind building.Various History Articles!!It has had many nicknames, but the one which brought a Smile to Acree’s lips was “The Lace Panty Building” remark ofhis woman acquaintance.The top floor of the building is reserved for the dining rooms. Surrounding the glass-enclosed floor is a balcony which providesa breath-taking view of the countryside.Acoustics are excellent: On the ground level and looking out into a nearby pond is a “Civic Room” which seats between150 and 250 people. The acoustics are so well-planned that the speaker at the rostrum can be heard in all parts of the roomwithout the aid of a microphone.This room, which is utilized for sales meetings has been lent to church and civic nonprofit groups for meetings.Acree is an avid fisherman and evidences of his prowess grace the curving walls of this room.Inside, the building has an aura of efficiency. There is the impression that one is in a cosmopolitan area. It is amusing, then,to look out the windows at the pastoral scene of horses grazing in a field. The Lincoln Tower area is a combination of cityand country.Gremlins ran the elevator: Another interesting feature of the building is the outside elevator. The mechanism can be seton this elevator to control its descent. By taking a full 2.8 minutes to descend, riders have the feeling of floating down tothe ground. Gremlins were thought to occupy the outside elevator at first because it went up and down, Seemingly by itself.It was discovered that the sun activated the buttons designating the various floors. The problem was solved by installing col-ored buttons.There is enough concrete in this building for a highway 20 miles long and 20 feet wide. The precast filigree work aloneweighs 1,246 tons. The glass would cover about half an acre.The use of the pond: The concrete and insulated glass not only give the building its unusual beauty but serve to reduce theoperating cost of the air-conditioning system.The pond and fountains are functional as well as beautiful. They are integrated into the cooling system and have eliminatedcostly piping.