561 ft (171 m) observation tower in Dallas, Texas and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks
General Information
Reunion Tower is a 561 ft (171 m) observation tower in Dallas, Texas and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. Located in the Reunion district of downtown Dallas, the tower is part of the Hyatt Regency Hotel complex, and is the city's 15th tallest building.
Reunion Tower, also known locally as "The Ball," was completed on February 2, 1978, along with the Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion, as part of an urban redevelopment project that also renovated the historic Union Station.
The tower is located about 1,000 feet from Dealey Plaza and the site of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
The tower contains three floors with circular floor plans on top of four shafts of poured-in-place concrete. A central cylindrical shaft houses both stairs and mechanical equipment. Three rectangular shafts, featuring elevators, rise parallel to the central shaft. Each shaft's outfacing wall is made up of glass panels, providing tourists views of the city during the 68-second elevator ride to the top. Before renovations in 2008, the first level housed the observation deck, the second a revolving restaurant called Antares, and the third level a club called The Dome. The top three floors are encased in an open-air sphere, which is a geodesic dome formed with aluminum struts. Every one of the struts' 260 intersections is covered by aluminum circles with lights in the center.
At night, the globe at the building's top is illuminated with 259 custom LED fixtures.
Making the tower an iconic landmark on the Dallas skyline, lighting on the globe is also used for special events and holidays across the city (for example, the winter season will feature seasonal colors and animations; for St. Patrick's Day, it will be illuminated in green; for patriotic events, it will be lit in red, white and blue; etc.) The globe was lit up in rainbow colors on June 26, 2015 to celebrate the supreme court ruling which legalized same sex marriage.
The Observation level is called the "GeO-Deck". The interior facility includes an interactive digital experience featuring information about Dallas landmarks, Reunion Tower itself, the events of November 22, 1963, live view high-definition cameras and more. The exterior of the observation deck features telescopes with views in every direction.
The Cloud 9 Cafe is accessible from the observation deck, serving meals and snacks with a 360-degree view from behind glass.
The gift shop at the tower's base features souvenirs related to Reunion Tower, Dallas and Texas and other novelty items.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Reunion Tower", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
