http://www.djc.com/news/ae/12041565.html
Glass viewing platforms would expand views at Space Needle
By MARC STILES
Journal Staff Reporter
The Space Needle could get permission next week to add three glass viewing compartments to the “halo” near the top of the icon.
The small spaces would have see-through floors and extend off the needle's observation deck at the 520-foot level. Space Needle CEO Ron Sevart said they would be evenly spaced around the platform. Each would have three walls, a glass floor “and really nothing else,” he said.
The goal is to “maintain [the needle's] relevance and improve the viewer's experience.”
The needle has gone through several changes since it was built 50 years ago. In 1982, the SkyLine was added at the 100-foot level for private events.
Space Needle officials provided renderings of the needle showing the glass compartments as seen from Kerry Park, and they show that this change would be less noticeable than the SkyLine.
The needle is a landmark so changing it requires approval from the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board. The board, with the help of its architecture review committee, has been vetting the idea since last summer. Board members are expected to make a decision on the Space Needle's application Wednesday.
Space Needle officials also have been meeting with neighborhood and preservation groups, such as Historic Seattle and Docomomo WEWA, a local group that promotes the appreciation of modern architecture.
Euginia Woo, director of preservation services for Historic Seattle and a Docomomo board member, said the groups are not opposed to the additions. “They are trying to keep it compatible with the original design intent of the structure and also adding to it to continue making the needle more relevant in the future.”
Space Needle Corp. hired Halcrow Yolles to do the structural glass design and also is working with architects from Callison on the project.
Sevart said he hopes the project is done in time for the needle's 50th anniversary. He did not know how much the additions will cost.
Halcrow Yolles worked on the renovation of Chicago's Willis Tower, formerly Sears Tower. The building has a new skydeck observation area, nicknamed The Ledge, with a series of glass boxes that extend 4.3 feet from the exterior wall. The boxes are 1,353 feet above the street, and are made of three half-inch-thick glass panes. Each box can withstand wind pressures up to 125 pounds per square foot and loads of up to 5 tons, according to the company's website.
“Structural glass is at a place today that allows us to do this in a very safe way,” Sevart said.
About 1.5 million people visit the needle every year, and that number has been pretty consistent, according to Sevart. “We continue to reinvest to maintain attendance levels.”
It costs $19 to visit the top of the 605-foot needle. Sevart said that fee will include stepping into the glass compartments.
