The Tower of the Americas is a 750-foot observation tower/restaurant on the southeastern fringe of Downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA. The tower was designed by San Antonio architect O'Neil Ford and was built as the theme structure of the 1968 World's Fair, HemisFair '68.
The Tower was the tallest observation tower in the United States from 1968 until 1996, when the Las Vegas Stratosphere Tower was completed. It is also the one of the two tallest skyscrapers in Texas excluding Dallas and Houston. The other is the 683-foot residential building, The Austonian.
The Tower is located in the middle of HemisFair Park and has an observation deck that is accessible by elevator for a fee. In addition, there is also a lounge and revolving restaurant at the top of the tower that provides panoramic views of the city.
The fastest recorded time up the tower's 952 steps is 5 minutes 18 seconds on January 29, 1981.
Read more about Tower Of The Americas: Construction History, Tower Restaurant, Building Heights, FM Radio
Famous quotes containing the words tower and/or americas:
“Resignedly beneath the sky
The melancholy waters lie.
So blend the turrets and shadows there
That all seem pendulous in air,
While from a proud tower in the town
Death looks gigantically down.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
“The only history is a mere question of one’s struggle inside oneself. But that is the joy of it. One need neither discover Americas nor conquer nations, and yet one has as great a work as Columbus or Alexander, to do.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)