00:00The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States.
00:14Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a Seattle landmark.
00:19Located in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Center for the
00:221962 World's Fair, which drew over 2.3 million visitors.
00:27At 605 feet high the Space Needle was once the tallest structure west of the Mississippi
00:32River.
00:33The tower is 138 feet wide, weighs 9,550 short tons, 8,660 metric tons, and is built to withstand
00:42winds of up to 200 miles per hour, 320 kilometers per hour, and earthquakes of up to 9.0 magnitude,
00:48as strong as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake.
00:51Elevators take visitors to an observation deck 520 feet above ground in 41 seconds,
00:57which offers panoramic views of the downtown Seattle skyline, the Olympic and Cascade Mountains,
01:02Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay, and various islands in Puget Sound.
01:08On April 19, 1999, the city's Landmarks Preservation Board designated the tower a historic landmark.
01:15The architecture of the Space Needle is the result of a compromise between the designs
01:19of two people, Edward E. Carlson and John Graham Jr.
01:23The two leading ideas for the World's Fair involved businessman Edward E. Carlson's sketch,
01:28on a napkin, of a giant balloon tethered to the ground, the gently sloping base, and architect
01:33John Graham's concept of a flying saucer that houses the restaurant and observation deck.
01:39Victor Steinbrook introduced the hourglass profile of the tower and its tripod design,
01:44which resembles the isthmus that Seattle is situated on.
01:47In 1989, the Space Needle was built to withstand Category 5-plus wind speeds of 200 miles per
01:53hour, 320 kilometers per hour.
01:56Double the requirements in the building code of 1962, swaying only 1 inch per 10 miles
02:01per hour of wind speed.
02:03For decades, the hovering disk of the Space Needle was home to two restaurants 500 feet
02:07above the ground, the Space Needle Restaurant, which was originally named Eye of the Needle,
02:12and Emerald Suite.
02:14These were closed in 2000 to make way for Sky City, a larger restaurant that features
02:18Pacific Northwest cuisine, which closed in 2017.
02:22In 1993, the elevators were replaced with new computerized versions.
02:27The new elevators descend at a rate of 10 miles per hour.
02:30On December 31, 1999, a powerful beam of light was unveiled for the first time.
02:36Known as the Legacy Lighter Skybeam, it is powered by lamps the total 85 million candela
02:41shining skyward from the top of the Space Needle to honor national holidays and special
02:45occasions in Seattle.
02:47The concept of this beam was derived from the official 1962 World's Fair poster, which
02:52depicted such a light source although none was incorporated into the original design.
02:57It is somewhat controversial because of the light pollution it creates.
03:01Originally planned to be turned on 75 nights per year, it has generally been used fewer
03:05than a dozen times per year.
03:07Space Needle and various buildings for the Seattle World's Fair under construction, 1961
03:12Edward E. Carlson, chairman of the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, had an idea for erecting
03:18a tower with a restaurant at the World's Fair.
03:21The president of Western International Hotels, he had been inspired by a recent visit to
03:25the Stuttgart Tower in Germany.
03:27Local architect John Graham soon became involved as a result of his success in designing Northgate
03:32Mall.
03:33Graham's first move was to alter the restaurant's original design to a revolving restaurant.
03:38Similar to his previous design of the Laronne Tower restaurant at the Ala Moana Shopping
03:42Center in Hawaii.
03:44Citation needed, among the names proposed for the structure by Carlson, Graham, and
03:49Steinbrook were the, Space Needle, Star Tickler, Top Hat, and, Big Skookum.
03:54That is all.
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