Tower of the Americas
The Tower of the Americas is a observation tower-restaurant located in the Hemisfair district on the southeastern portion of Downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States. 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. It was named as a result of a name the tower contest created by the executive committee. 68 people submitted the name the tower is now known by. It was the tallest observation tower in the United States from 1968 until 1996, when the Las  Vegas Stratosphere Tower was completed. The tower is the tallest occupiable structure in San Antonio, and it is the 30th-tallest occupiable structure in Texas. The tower is located in the middle of the former HemisFair '68 site and has an observation deck that is accessible by elevator for a fee. There is also a lounge and revolving restaurant at the top of the tower that provides panoramic views of the city. Construction history. Construction of the tower began on August 9, 1966 and cost $5.2 million. The top house of the tower was constructed at ground level and  hoisted to the top of the poured concrete shaft. As the top house was being hoisted into place, on October 30, 1967 some of the cables used to hoist it snapped, leaving it resting and precariously tilted on the tower's shaft. Eventually, oil field pipes were used in lieu of cables to complete the job. It was completed in approximately 18 months, though not quite in time for the fair's opening ceremonies held on April 6, 1968. It was opened to the public five days later on April 11. The top house still had not been finished, with  construction materials and lumber strewn about. Tower restaurant. In 2004, Landry's Restaurants, Inc. won the bid for a 15-year lease to manage and operate the property for its owner, the City of San Antonio. Landry's undertook an extensive $8 million renovation of the existing restaurant and lounge and observation deck and added a 4-D film "ride" called "Skies Over Texas," that gives the history of Texas in a film format. Additionally, Landry's spent another $4 million to add approximately 200% more space for ground level attractions such as a gift shop and cafe . Renovations were completed and the tower re-opened with the new Eyes Over Texas Restaurant, Bar 601 and the Flags Over Texas observation deck on June 21, 2006. The restaurant rotates slowly, and observation deck entry is included in the cost of a tower ticket. In September 2007, Landry's converted the Eyes Over Texas Restaurant into one of its Chart House outlets. Prior to Landry's, Frontier Enterprises (owner of San Antonio-based Jim's Restaurants) operated the tower of the Americas' restaurant for more than three decades. FM radio. Since 1970 the roof has hosted a tapered steel  mast, used as support for three FM antennas; 101.9 KQXT (then known as KCOR-FM), 102.7 KJXK (then KTFM), and 104.5 KZEP (then KITE-FM). In 2007, the three individual antennas were replaced by a 16-bay master antenna that radiates all three FM signals including the HD signal for KQXT. Clear Channel Radio and Electronics Research Inc. headed up the project along with their contractors and involved the City of San Antonio and Landry's Restaurants. The new antenna system improved coverage for all three radio stations. An option existed for several years to add facilities for a move  in signal on 97.7 (requiring rearrangement of ten other stations) to share the site. This was organized by Bret Huggins and David Stewart of Rawhide Radio, LLC (partly owned by Hispanic Broadcasting now Univision radio). Transmitters are located between the public areas of the observation deck and the revolving restaurant in equipment bays along with air conditioners and plumbing. Trivia. The fastest recorded time up the tower's 952 steps is 5 minutes 18 seconds on January 29, 1981.