| Smith Tower | |
Smith Tower as seen from the Pacific Building. |
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| Information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Status | Complete |
| Constructed | 1910-1914 |
| Use | Office + Residential penthouse |
| Roof | 141 m (462 ft) |
| Floor count | 42 |
| Floor area | 262,350 ft² |
| Cost | US$1. Pioneer Square is the Neighborhood where Seattle Washington, USA was founded in 1852 following a brief six month settlement at Alki Point. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. 5M |
| Companies | |
| Architect | Gaggin & Gaggin |
| Owner | Walton Street Capital |
The Smith Tower, located in Pioneer Square, is the oldest skyscraper in Seattle, Washington. Pioneer Square is the Neighborhood where Seattle Washington, USA was founded in 1852 following a brief six month settlement at Alki Point. A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable Building. There is no official definition or a precise cutoff height above which a building may clearly be classified as a skyscraper Completed in 1914, the tower is named after its builder, firearm and typewriter magnate Lyman Cornelius Smith. Lyman Cornelius Smith (1834-1910 was an inventor and industrialist Containing 42 floors, it was the tallest office building west of the Mississippi River until the Kansas City Power & Light Building was built in 1931. The Kansas City Power and Light Building (also called the "KCP&L Building" and the "Power & Light Building" is a landmark skyscraper located in Downtown Kansas It remained the tallest building on the West Coast until the Space Needle overtook it in 1962. The Space Needle (often called just "the Needle" by locals is a Tower in Seattle Washington, and is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest [1]
The building is a designated Seattle landmark. [2]
Contents |
History
In 1909, Smith planned to build a 14-story building in Seattle. His son, Burns Lyman Smith, convinced him to build instead a much taller skyscraper to steal the crown from rival city Tacoma's National Real Estate Building as the tallest west of the Mississippi. Construction began in 1910. Although Smith did not live to see it, the building was completed in 1914 to a height of 141 m (462 ft) from curbside to top of tower finial. [3] At its ribbon cutting July 3, 1914, it was the 6th tallest building in the world and the 3rd tallest in the world outside Manhattan. Ivar Haglund of Ivar's restaurant fame bought the tower for $1. Ivar Haglund ( 21 March 1905 &ndash 30 January 1985) was a Seattle folk Singer and the "flounder" Ivar's is a Seafood Restaurant chain based in Seattle Washington, United States with operations in the Puget Sound region in Spokane 8 million in 1976. The Samis Foundation acquired the tower in 1996. Sam Israel (born March 4 1899 in Rhodes, Greece; died June 11 1994 in Seattle Washington) was a real estate investor and developer. In 2006, the building was purchased by Walton Street Capital. The building has been renovated twice, in 1986 and in 1999.
High-tech companies flocked to the classy atmosphere of the Smith Tower, which sports fiber-optic wiring, in recent years. The burst of the dot-com bubble hurt the Smith Tower by raising its vacancy rate to 26. The " dot-com bubble " (or sometimes the " IT bubble " was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2001 (with a climax on March 10 1%, twice Seattle's commercial vacancy rate, as of December 21, 2001. Events 69 - The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. The Walt Disney Internet Group, for example, now occupies four floors instead of seven. Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter By 2007, the occupancy rate had rebounded to about 90%.
Following the announced departure of the building's two largest occupants, Walton Street Capital filed an application to convert the building into condominiums. A condominium, or condo, is a form of Housing tenure and other Real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate (usually of an apartment [4]
Description
The Smith Tower is an example of neoclassical architecture. Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and Its outer skin is granite on the first and second floors, and terra cotta on the rest. It has been washed only once since its construction, in 1976, because it remains remarkably clean without regular washing.
The building is the last on the West Coast to have live elevator operators. The Otis Elevator Company provided the elevators, which have brass surfaces. The Otis Elevator Company is the world's largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems today principally Elevators and Escalators Founded in Yonkers The doors are latticed, so a rider can see into each hallway and through the glass walls in front of each office.
The Chinese Room is on the 35th floor of the tower, the same level as the observatory. The furniture and the handcarved ceiling were gifts from the Empress of China. An emperor (from the Latin " Imperator " is a (male Monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an Empire or another type of China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National They include the famous Wishing Chair. It is said that a single woman who sits in the chair will marry within a year. The legend came true for Smith's daughter, who married in the Chinese Room itself.
After the restoration in the early nineties, workers removed a thousand-gallon water tank in the very top of the tower. This resulted in much new space, and what was formerly a small maintenance man's apartment became a three-story penthouse, the only residence in the building.
The very top of the building is crowned by an eight-foot wide glass dome which is illuminated by blue light, except for the month of December, when it is changed to green.
References
- ^ Woodridge, Sally B. ; Roger Montgomery (1980). Roger Montgomery (1925 – 2003 was a City planner, Urban designer Architect, and Educator. A Guide to Architecture in Washington State. University of Washington Press, page 116. ISBN 0-295-95779-4.
- ^ Landmarks Alphabetical Listing for S, Individual Landmarks, Department of Neighborhoods, City of Seattle. Accessed 28 December 2007. Events 1065 - Westminster Abbey is Consecrated. 1308 - The reign of Emperor Hanazono, Emperor of Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
- ^ Pastier, John (July 1, 2004). Seattle's Smith Tower — A Snapshot History. HistoryLink.org. HistoryLink is a website that is an encyclopedia of Washington State history
- ^ Aubrey Cohen. "Smith Tower applies to convert from offices to condos", Seattle P-I, February 22, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun.
External links
| Preceded by Hoge Building |
Tallest Building in Seattle 1914—1962 149m |
Succeeded by Space Needle |
| Preceded by Key Bank Center |
Tallest building in Washington 1914—1962 159m |
Succeeded by Space Needle |
| Preceded by Key Bank Center |
Tallest building west of the Mississippi 1914—1931 159m |
Succeeded by Kansas City Power & Light Building |
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