Space Needle
Seattle, WA
The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a city landmark and is considered an icon of Seattle. It was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World's Fair, which drew over 2.3 million visitors. Nearly 20,000 people a day used its elevators during the event. Once the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River, it is 605 ft high, 138 ft wide, and weighs 9,550 short tons. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph and earthquakes of up to 9.0 magnitude, as strong as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. It also has 25 lightning rods. The Space Needle has an observation deck at 520 ft. It features views of the downtown Seattle skyline, the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay, and surrounding islands in Puget Sound. Visitors can reach the top of the Space Needle by elevators that travel at 10 mph. The trip takes 41 seconds. On windy days, the elevators slow to 5 mph. On April 19, 1999, the city's Landmarks Preservation Board designated it a historic landmark. In September 2017, the tower's SkyCity restaurant was closed as part of a $100 million renovation.