Architecture

Facts about Space Needle

We found 20 facts about Space Needle

Seattle’s finest

The Space Needle was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Towering the city at 184 meters, it is a historical landmark of Seattle and its most recognizable structure. It was built to withstand both earthquakes and hurricanes and offers a breathtaking 47-minute, 360 degrees Seattle view ride at the Loupe Lounge.

Space Needle
1
It is an observation tower located in Seattle, Washington.
2
Its cost is estimated at $4.5 million in 1962 (over $44 million today).
3
The construction started in April 1961 and lasted for approximately 400 days.
4
The Space Needle was built for the Seattle World’s Fair, called the Century 21 Exposition.
It was opened on April 21st, 1962.
5
It is 184.5 meters high with a top floor at 158 meters.
6
Space Needle was the first building in the world to feature a revolving glass floor.
It is called The Loupe.
7
It was built to withstand magnitude-9 earthquakes and a wind speed of 320 km/h.
8
The original concept of the Space Needle was sketched by Edward E. Carlson on a napkin.
Carlson was a chief organizer of the Century 21 Exposition. His concept depicted a giant balloon, currently resembled in the sloping base of the most recognizable symbol of Seattle.
9
The chief architect was John Graham.
10
It was designated an official Seattle historic landmark in 1999.
11
Annually, it is visited by approximately 1,3 million tourists.
12
The elevator ride takes approximately 43 seconds.
13
The Legacy Light of SkyBeam, powered by 85 million candela lamps, is an integral part of the Space Needle since New Year’s Eve of 1999.
Powered in 1999 to greet the new Millennium, it honors local and national holidays and special occasions ever since.

It was lit for 11 consecutive days after the 9/11 attack in memory of the fallen.
14
It is Seattle’s most popular firework display on New Year’s Eve.
15
In 2017, it underwent a $100 million renovation project.
The project was called Century Project and lasted until August 2018.
16
Since its opening, there have been six parachute jumps from the Space Needle.
Four out of six were legally carried out, the other two ended with an arrest.
17
CHEESE, short for The Committee Hoping for Extra-terrestrial Encounters to Save the Earth, believes that Space Needle was built to transmit signals to other advanced civilizations from outside our Solar System.
18
While going up the elevator on the snowstorm, an optical illusion makes the snowflakes fall upwards.
It is because of the difference between the speed of falling snowflakes (approximately 5 km/h) and the speed of the elevator (16 km/h).
19
The Space Needle is built on private property and belongs to the Wright family.
20
On April 1st, 1989, a local sketch comedy TV show, Almost Live! Announced that the Space Needle collapsed.
It caused mayhem across the city, as hundreds of people started calling 911 and the Space Needle itself, blocking both lines for hours.
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