Seattle Space Needle is 60

Since putting Seattle on the map in 1962, the

Space Needle has been a symbol of the forward-thinking spirit of the city.

Located at Seattle Center, it stands at 605ft tall and is one of the most photographed structures in the world.

The tower’s saucer-shaped “top house” offers visitors the city’s only 360-degree indoor and outdoor panoramic views of downtown, Mount Rainier, Puget Sound, and the Cascades, and Olympic mountain ranges. It’s amazing to think that it all started with a doodle…

In 1959, Seattle hotel executive Edward E. Carlson, chief organiser of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, travelled to Stuttgart where he was inspired by a broadcasting tower featuring a restaurant. He scribbled the idea of a structure for the fair on a napkin in a hotel cafe, convinced it could make a permanent centrepiece for the expo and an enduring symbol for Seattle. He called it Space Needle.

The basic Space Needle tower was completed in December 1961, eight months after construction began.

In keeping with the 21st century theme of the World’s Fair, the final coats of paint were dubbed Astronaut White for the legs, Orbital Olive for the core, Re-entry Red for the Halo and Galaxy Gold for the sunburst and pagoda roof.

The Space Needle opened on the first day of the fair and hosted around 2.65 million visitors, including Elvis Presley, Prince Philip and Neil Armstrong.

In 1982, the 100ft SkyLine special event level was added. In 1993, grunge band Nirvana visited.

The tower received a $20million revamp in 2000 with the construction of the Pavilion Level, SpaceBase retail store, SkyCity restaurant and Observation Deck improvements. In comparison, the Space Needle was built for $4.5 million in 1962.

In 2017, The Century Project commenced, revealing the tower’s internal structure taking it back to the original conceptual sketches while improving its views. Guests are now surrounded by two multi-level, glass viewing experiences.

The upper observation level is connected by the Oculus Stairs to The Loupe, the world’s first, and only, rotating glass floor below. spaceneedle.com