Talk:Space Needle

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The hexagonal platform just below the top of the legs is a maintenance platform, not a permanent part of the Needle. Elde 01:36, 1 Jan 2004 (UTC)

(1 year and 21 days later): moved this information to the main body of the article where it belongs. Lee M 03:16, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)
In the Google Earth discussion, coordinates are cited for the needle that are different than those in the existing Space Needle teplate. It is obvious to me that there are insignificant digits in the existing data. I would like to update and unifiy this data. Please let me know if there are any objections. Amorrow 23:59, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Who knows something about Geodesy?

Who knows enough about geodesy to determine the point of the Space Needle (or better still, the tip of the Washington Monument) to extra significant digits? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Amorrow (talk • contribs) 17:28, July 31, 2005

[edit] Relevance of "twenty dollar grilled-cheese sandwiches?"

Why is this comment in the second paragraph? There's already a comment about the relative expense of the food later in the article; this summary comment at the top seems dismissive, as though that's all they serve. Not to turn this into a restaurant review, but the "sashimi-grade" tuna steak I had when I visited on a business trip seems much more indicative of the quality of the offerings. --Markzero 11:33, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

i'm not sure about the phrasing of the $20 grilled cheese sandwich, but many tourists and visitors are shocked by the prices, which makes it notable. was the tuna any good? Justforasecond 13:05, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
It wasn't the best I ever had, but it was pretty good. As far as prices go, Antares in Reunion Tower is similar, and the view isn't as nice in my opinion. Given the exclusive locations of these restaurants and the fact patrons skip the ticket price, why would these prices be shocking? This is destination dining, and it's obviously going to be more expensive. --Markzero 04:43, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
Ok, the minimum charge at SkyCity has gone up to $30/guest for dinner, $25 for lunch, and there's no cheese sandwich. Looking at the "new" menu, it does seem somewhat pricier than Antares is, currently. So I can see some of the concern, and it weakens my argument :) Still, it's fine dining. Go to the Salty's in Alki Beach, Seattle, and pay $26 for their Ahi dish. Now buy a $14 Space needle ticket. that's $40. SkyCity's similar entree is $38.50. Is the food at SkyCity comparable? I don't know. Maybe not. I couldn't find any dish that close at Ivar's Salmon House, but it probably would have been cheaper. But not by much. --Markzero 04:43, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
Updated restaurant pricing in article. --Markzero 04:58, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV issue regarding photo pricing

"During the wait, Space Needle staff attempts to sell highly overpriced photos to patrons from around $30." How is "highly overpriced" a neutral statement? --Markzero 12:46, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] privately owned

Do we know who privately owns it? - Zepheus 21:31, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes; it's owned by the family of Howard Wright, one of the original builders. The Space Needle Corporation, which manages the Needle, is his company. Wavery2001 00:14, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

The history, as given, is in part verbatim from the official site's history page at [1] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.89.246.128 (talk • contribs) 15:08, July 20, 2006

[edit] Violation of Wikipedia's GFDL and a photographer's CC license

The following URL appears to be using a edited/modified screen shot of the wikipedia's Space needle article and appears to be in violation of both Wikipedia's GFDL and the photographer's Creative Commons license under which the article's image is licensed. There is no attribution, inclusion of the licensing terms, etc., etc. [2] I'm not sure what can/should be done about this. Hopefully someone can get in touch with the photographer and inform him of the violation of his work. I will also post this to "Wikipedia talk:Copyright problems" for anyone interested in the more general copyright violation. (note: that comment was moved to an archive page) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.201.53.207 (talk • contribs) 12:24, August 1, 2006

[edit] Image sizing

Please do not hardcode the size of images. This is explained:

  • Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#Images: In most cases the size of images should not be hardcoded.
  • Wikipedia:Image_use_policy#Displayed_image_size: "From MediaWiki 1.5 the default thumbnail width can be set in the preferences, so it is recommended not to specify "px", in order to respect the users' preferences (unless, for a special reason, a specific size is required regardless of preferences, or a size is specified outside the range of widths 120–300px that can be set in the preferences)."
  • Wikipedia:Images#Image_preferences: "Logged in users can set the size of thumbnails want in special:preferences under "files". The default, used by those not logged in, is 180 pixels. Logged in users can choose from widths of 120px, 150px, 180px, 200px, 250px or 300px"

Thanks, Cacophony 18:22, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Expensive elevator car

"Completed in April 1962 at a cost of $4.5 million, the last elevator car was installed the day before the Fair opened on April 21."

That's one expensive elevator car (or a dangling participle). Gr8white 02:27, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] name flub under history

"""In a Seattle coffee house, Brendan J. Cysewski bore the first design of the Space Needle, originally named The Space Cage, while daydreaming. This first 1959 sketch was on a coffee house placemat. Carlson was then president of a hotel company and not previously known for art or design, but he was inspired by a recent visit to the Stuttgart Tower of Germany. Knowing that the theme of the 1962 World's Fair would be Century 21, he made a shape somewhat resembling that of a large balloon top tethered down to the bottom.""" see if you can spot the confusing detail concerning the name of the guy who designed the space needle in this paragraph!! also, is bore the right word? how about drew, or sketched. bore has a different connotation, and not a very accurate one. would change it myself, except that i don't know if the name of the guy who sketched the original design is Cysewki or Carlson.

[edit] Moved on maps

Can someone explain what this paragraph means:

In June 1987, the Space Needle moved 312 feet (95 m) to the southwest. This movement only occurred on maps though, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had begun a 10-year endeavor to re-map the world by satellite images. Major structures and landmarks such as the Space Needle were the first to be mapped out.

At least provide a reference or link to NOAA's remapping project. I'm rather skeptical -- is this a joke? Pfly (talk) 22:25, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] As fast as raindrops?

In the architecture second, the article says, "In 1993, the elevators were replaced with new computerized versions. Traveling at 10 mph (16 km/h), the elevator descends at the same speed as raindrops." Wouldn't raindrops in freefall be accelerating at the regular gravitational rate of about 9.8 m/sec^2 ? I feel like a smartass for mentioning it, but I don't think it brings anything to the article anyways. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.71.193.150 (talk) 05:48, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

The Rain article says raindrops reach a terminal velocity between 2 m/s and 9 m/s, which is between 4.47 MPH and 20.13 MPH. The elevators travel at 10 MPH, which -is- within this range, but only a very specifically sized raindrop, which is a bit like saying a human can run as fast as a cheetah because it can match it's speed up to 20 or so mph. I'll take it out. 71.234.60.152 (talk) 17:13, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Earthquake Resistance

"It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph (320 km/h) and earthquakes up to 9.5 magnitude". We definitely need a citation for the seismic comment. I can find only the first part in the references (see below). The name of the design engineer should also be in there - John Minasian. It would be wrong to write that the architects themselves designed it to resist any sort of force. I must say, however, that I find it unlikely that the Space Needle was actually good (as originally designed) for such high levels of earthquake, although I could be wrong. I remember hearing something about a seismic retrofit in recent years, which would seem to reflect this, although I cannot find anything on the web about it, and it may have been disguised as part of an upgrade (hearsay). It has become increasingly clear in recent years that the US building codes are not adequate for the design of tall buildings (see latest report from CTBUH). This is not to say that all tall buildings designed to code are necessarily sub-standard, but there is probably a need to reassess some of them. This is particularly true in places like Seattle where the seismic risk is significantly higher than originally assessed.

I propose to remove the reference to it being able to resist a 9.5 magnitude earthquake unless someone can come up with a reference. The websites that I can find make reference to it being designed to twice the force levels specified in the 1962 Building Code, and I propose to insert that instead.

I have added the name of John Graham and Company as architect since this is stated in two references. I have not removed the reference to Victor Steinbrueck, although it is not supported by any citation. If a citation is not added in the near future, then I propose removing the statement that "Victor Steinbrueck really designed the Space Needle", since this is not NPOV. Comments welcome.

Some additional references on the web:

--Muchado (talk) 04:51, 5 May 2008 (UTC)