Space Needle
The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a Seattle landmark. Located at 400 Broad Street in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World's Fair, which drew more than 2.3 million visitors.
At high, the Space Needle was once the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River in the United States. The tower is wide, weighs, and is built to withstand winds of up to and earthquakes of up to 9.0 magnitude, as strong as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake.
Elevators take visitors to an observation deck above ground in 41 seconds, which offers panoramic views of the downtown Seattle skyline, the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay, and various islands in Puget Sound. On April 19, 1999, the city's Landmarks Preservation Board designated the tower a historic landmark.
Architecture
The architecture of the Space Needle is the result of a compromise between the designs of two people, Edward E. Carlson and John Graham, Jr. The two leading ideas for the World Fair involved businessman Edward E. Carlson's sketch of a giant balloon tethered to the ground and architect John Graham's concept of a flying saucer. Victor Steinbrueck introduced the hourglass profile of the tower and its tripod design, which resembles the isthmus that Seattle is situated on. The Space Needle was built to withstand Category 5-plus wind speeds of, double the requirements in the building code of 1962, swaying only per of wind speed.While the 2001 6.8 Nisqually earthquake jolted the Needle enough to cause water to slosh out of the toilets, the structure is designed to avoid serious structural damage in earthquakes of magnitudes below 9.1.
For decades, the hovering disk of the Space Needle was home to two restaurants above the ground: the Space Needle Restaurant, which was originally named Eye of the Needle, and Emerald Suite. These were closed in 2000 to make way for SkyCity, a larger restaurant featuring Pacific Northwest cuisine, which closed in 2017. In 1993, the elevators were replaced with new computerized versions. The new elevators descend at a rate of.
On December 31, 1999, a powerful beam of light was unveiled for the first time. Known as the Legacy Light or Skybeam, it is powered by lamps that total 85 million candela shining skyward from the top of the Space Needle to honor national holidays and special occasions in Seattle. The concept of this beam was derived from the , which depicted such a light source. It is somewhat controversial because of the light pollution it creates. Originally planned to be turned on 75 nights per year, it has generally been used fewer than a dozen times per year. It did remain lit for eleven days in a row from September 11, 2001, to September 22, 2001, in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks.
A 1962 Seattle World's Fair poster showed a grand spiral entryway leading to the elevator that was ultimately omitted from final building plans. The main stairwell has 848 steps from the basement to the top of the observation deck.
At approximately, the Space Needle was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River at the time it was built by Howard S. Wright Construction Co., but is now dwarfed by other structures along the Seattle skyline alone, among them the Columbia Center, at. Unlike many other similar structures, such as the CN Tower in Toronto, the Space Needle is not used for broadcasting purposes.
History
Construction
Edward E. Carlson, chairman of the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, had an idea for erecting a tower with a restaurant at the World's Fair. The president of Western International Hotels, he had been inspired by a recent visit to the Stuttgart Tower in Germany. Local architect John Graham soon became involved as a result of his success in designing Northgate Mall. Graham's first move was to alter the restaurant's original design to a revolving restaurant, similar to his previous design of the La Ronde tower restaurant at the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu. Among the names proposed for the structure by Carlson, Graham, and Steinbrueck were the "Space Needle", "Star Tickler", "Top Hat", and "Big Skookum".The proposed Space Needle had no pre-selected site. Since it was not financed by the city, land had to be purchased within the fairgrounds. The investors had been unable to find suitable land and the search for a site was nearly dead when, in 1961, they discovered a lot,, containing switching equipment for the fire and police alarm systems. The land, which originally had the neighborhood's fire station until 1921, was sold by the city for $75,000. Geotechnical engineers quickly tested and approved the site for construction. At this point, only one year remained before the World's Fair would begin. The Needle was privately financed and built by the Pentagram Corporation, consisting of Bagley Wright, contractor Howard S. Wright, architect John Graham, Ned Skinner, and Norton Clapp. In 1977, Bagley, Skinner, and Clapp sold their interest to the Howard Wright Company, which now controls it under the name of Space Needle Corporation.
The concrete base of the Space Needle is deep and across, and took 467 redi-mix trucks one full day to fill. The foundation weighs , the same as the above-ground structure. The tower is secured to the foundation with 72 long bolts.
With time an issue, the construction team worked around the clock. The domed top, housing the top five levels, was perfectly balanced so that the restaurant could rotate with the help of one tiny electric motor, originally, later replaced with a motor. Painted in Orbital Olive paint for the body, Astronaut White for the legs, Re-entry Red for the saucer, and Galaxy Gold for the roof, the Space Needle was finished in less than one year. It was completed in April 1962 at a cost of $4.5 million. The last elevator car was installed the day before the Fair opened on April 21. During the course of the Fair, nearly 20,000 people a day rode to the Observation Deck, culminating to a total of 2.56 million visitors. Upon completion, the Space Needle was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River, replacing the Kansas City Power and Light Building which had held that distinction since 1931. It also replaced the Smith Tower in downtown Seattle as the tallest building on the American west coast, which it had been since 1914.
The revolving restaurant was operated by Carlson's Western International Hotels under a 20-year contract from April 1, 1962, to April 1, 1982.
Carillon
An imitation carillon was installed in the Space Needle, and played several times a day during the World's Fair. The instrument, built by the Schulmerich Bells Company of Hatfield, Pennsylvania under the name "Carillon Americana", recreated the sounds of 538 bells and was the largest in the world, until eclipsed by a 732 bell instrument at the 1964 New York World's Fair. The operator's console was located in the base of the Space Needle, completely enclosed in glass to allow observation of the musician playing the instrument. It was also capable of being played from a roll, like a player piano. The forty-four stentors of the carillon were located underneath the Needle's disc at the level and were audible over the entire fairgrounds and up to away. The carillon was disassembled after the fair's close.The Carillon Americana was featured on a 12-track LP record called "Bells On High-Fi". These studio recordings were performed by noted carillonneur John Klein.
After the Fair
A radio broadcast studio was built on the observation level of the Space Needle in 1963. It was used for morning broadcasts by Radio KING and its sister TV station KING-TV from July 1963 to May 1966, and KIRO Radio from 1966 to 1974. Disc jockey Bobby Wooten of country music station KAYO-AM lived in an apartment built adjacent to the Space Needle's broadcast studio for six months in 1974, which required a permit variance from the city government.On March 27, 1964, the restaurant atop the Space Needle stopped rotating as a result of the 9.2 earthquake in Alaska.
In 1974, author Stephen Cosgrove's children's book Wheedle on the Needle imagined a furry creature called the Wheedle who lived on top of the Space Needle and caused its light to flash. Its closing quatrain is: There's a Wheedle on the Needle / I know just what you're thinking / But if you look up late at night / You'll see his red nose blinking. The Wheedle has since become a fixture of Seattle. It became the mascot of the Seattle SuperSonics National Basketball Association franchise, which played in nearby KeyArena. The SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City on July 3, 2008.
In 1982, the SkyLine level was added at the height of. Although it was part of the original plans for the Space Needle, it was not built until that time. Today, the SkyLine Banquet Facility can accommodate groups of 20–360 people.
On April 19, 1999, the Space Needle was designated as a city historic landmark by the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board 37 years after it opened. It was the youngest historic landmark in the city. Renovations were completed in 2000 at a cost approximately the same in inflated dollars as the original construction price. Renovations between 1999 and 2000 included the SkyCity restaurant, SpaceBase retail store, Skybeam installation, Observation Deck overhaul, lighting additions, and repainting.
On New Year's Eve, the Space Needle hosts a fireworks show at midnight; Alberto Navarro, a fireworks artist from Bellevue, is the lead architect of the show, which is viewed by thousands from the Seattle Center grounds, and televised by KING-TV. In 2000, public celebrations were canceled because of perceived terror threats against the structure after investigations into the foiled millennium bombing plots, but the fireworks show was still held. The 2020 fireworks display was canceled and replaced by a light show due to high winds, while the 2021 display was canceled and replaced by a broadcast-only augmented reality show due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fireworks display returned for 2022, but the Seattle Center grounds were closed to the public due to state proof of vaccination rules, and the television broadcast included augmented reality effects.
In 2002, a real estate consultant in Bellevue proposed the construction of five smaller replicas of the Space Needle around the city to promote tourism, though official plans to build the proposed structures have not yet materialized.
On May 19, 2007, the Space Needle welcomed its 45 millionth visitor, Greg Novoa from California, who received a free trip for two to Paris.
In May 2008, the Space Needle received its first professional deep cleaning since the opening of the 1962 World's Fair. The monument was pressure washed by Kärcher with water at a pressure of almost and a temperature of approximately. The cleaning was done only at night so that the Space Needle could stay open to the public. No detergents were used in consideration of the Seattle Center and the nearby Experience Music Project.