Page 234 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

THE AMERICAS CN Tower, Toronto

This 1 ,815-ft (1 ,553-m) high engineering marvel has been
GRHNlANO classified as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
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In the 1970s, the railway conglomerate Canadian National
\ Railway (C N), in consultation with local broadcasters, decided
LABRADOR to build a new transmission mast to meet Toronto's growing
SEA
telecommunications needs and to demonstrate its pride in
the city. Upon its opening, the tower so impressed visitors
that it soon became one of Canada's principal tourist
CN TOWE~Ot{awg
USA TORONTP"' attractions. Its revolving restaurant is renowned for both
its food and wine, and its spectacular views.

OBSERVATION DECKS
TheCNTower
The Lookout Level enables visitors to look out
at night>
across Toronto. Actually built over several I evels,
the upper tier has a cafe and a photo shop.
One level below, visitors can feel the wind at Y The tower from lake Ontario
The tower's height is emphasized
113 stories up, peer straight down through
by the lower buildings of Toronto's
the glass floor or dine in the revolving Harbourfront
restaurant. Thirty-three stories above the
I ookout, the Sky Pod is higher than many
of the world's tallest skyscrapers, even though
it is not the top of the CN Tower. With <Jn
impressive 360-degree view of Toronto and
Lake Ontario, on a clear day visitors can see as
far as Niagara Falls from this observation deck.

FASCINATING FACTS
Construction of the tower began in 1973, took
about 40 months to complete, and cost around
CA$63 million. A 75,000 sq-ft (6,968 sq-m)
entertainment expansion and renovation was
completed in 1998 at a cost of CA$26 million.
The tower has six elevators, which travel at
15 mph (24 kmlh) and reach the Lookout Level
at 1, 136 ft (346 m) in 58 seconds; a separate
elevator takes visitors 32 9 ft ( 1 0 1 m) higher to
the Sky Pod. The tower is flexible, and in winds
of 12 0 mph ( 19 5 kmlh), the Sky Pod cqn sway
18 inches (0 48 m) from the center. Every year,
about 2 million people visit the tower.
Tower from Centre
THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDINGS Island's gardens
When assessing a structure for its ranking
in the Tall est Buildings in the World list, the
international organization the Council on Tall ~ Revolving Restaurant
Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which
sets the criteria for defining and measuring tall
buildings, includes only those where at least
50 percent of the height is occupied by useable
floor area. It also only measures a building's
architectural height and excludes broadcasting
aerials and masts. The CN Tower does not
meet these criteria, and so it is categorized as
a freestanding structure. The tower was the ~ Glass Floor
world's tallest freestanding structure from 19 7 5 The ground is more than
1,122 ft (342m) below
until 2007, when its height was surpassed by
this thick I ayer of re-
the 2,717-ft (828-m) Burj Khalifa in Dubai, inforced glass, made
which currently tops the C TBU H' s Tallest from 256 sq ft (24 sq m)
Buildings in the World list, and the Guangzhou of solid glass that is five
times stronger than the
N & Sightseeing Tower in China, which is weight-bearing standard
2,000 ft (61 0 m) high. for commercial floors.