Reunion Tower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Reunion Tower |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Type | Observation tower |
| Location | 300 Reunion Boulevard Dallas, Texas 75207 |
| Coordinates | 32°46′31″N 96°48′32″W / 32.7753°N 96.8089°W |
| Completed | 1978 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 561 ft (171 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Material | 259 LED Fixtures |
| Lifts/elevators | 10 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Welton Becket and Associates |
| Known for | Defining iconic Dallas skyline with LED lighting |
| Renovating team | |
| Other designers | Wiedamark |
The Reunion Tower is a tall observation tower in Dallas, Texas. It stands 561 ft (171 m) (about 171 meters) high and is one of the most famous buildings in the city. You can find it at 300 Reunion Boulevard in the Reunion district of downtown Dallas. The tower is part of the Hyatt Regency Hotel complex and is the 15th tallest building in Dallas. It was designed by the architecture company Welton Becket & Associates.
Contents
History of the Tower
The Reunion Tower, sometimes called "The Ball" by local people, was finished on February 2, 1978. It was built at the same time as the Hyatt Regency Dallas hotel. This was part of a big project to make the city better, which also fixed up the old Union Station. Today, Union Station is a busy place for trains like Amtrak and Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
When it first opened, the tower was home to a radio station called KOAX-FM (now KRLD-FM 105.3 FM). The station used to broadcast from high up in the tower.
The tower's restaurant area was closed for a while for big updates. It reopened on February 9, 2009. The observation deck, where people can go to see views, opened again on October 5, 2013. This was just in time for the tower's 35th birthday!
The Reunion Tower is located about 1,000 feet (about 300 meters) from Dealey Plaza.
How the Tower is Built
The top part of the tower has three floors that are shaped like circles. These floors sit on top of four concrete shafts. A main round shaft in the middle holds stairs and other equipment. Three rectangular shafts next to it hold the elevators. The outside walls of these shafts are made of glass. This gives visitors amazing views of the city as they ride the elevator up in just 68 seconds!
Before some updates in 2008, the first level had the observation deck. The second level had a revolving restaurant called Antares. The third level was a club called The Dome. The top three floors are covered by a big, open-air sphere. This sphere is a geodesic dome made from aluminum bars. Each of the 260 spots where these bars meet has an aluminum circle with a light in the middle.
The Lights of Reunion Tower
At night, the big globe at the top of the tower lights up with 259 special LED lights. These lights were made by Altman Lighting and Color Kinetics. A company from Dallas called Wiedamark helped design, put in, and program these lights.
The old lights used to be regular light bulbs and used a lot of electricity. The new LED lights are much better! They use less than one-fifth of the electricity of the old system. Plus, they can create all sorts of colors and animations. Each light on the tower uses about as much electricity as a small nightlight.
Each light has several red, green, and blue (RGB) LED lights inside. These colors mix together behind a thick glass cover. Even though each light is big (about 16 inches wide), they work like tiny pixels on a phone screen. By changing how bright the red, green, and blue lights are, the system can make almost any color you can imagine. When these colors move around the globe quickly, it looks like animations and movement.
All 259 lights are controlled by computers to show different patterns and colors on the sphere. The tower's lights make it a famous landmark in the Dallas skyline. They are also used for special events and holidays. For example, during winter, it shows seasonal colors. For St. Patrick's Day, it turns green. For patriotic events, it lights up in red, white, and blue. On June 26, 2015, the globe was lit up in rainbow colors to celebrate a special court ruling.
Things to Do at the Tower
A famous chef named Wolfgang Puck opened a fancy, spinning restaurant called Five Sixty on the tower's top level on February 11, 2009. The name "Five Sixty" came from how high up the restaurant was. The middle floor of the tower was used for special events.
After 11 years, the Five Sixty restaurant closed for good in April 2020.
The observation level is called the "GeO-Deck." Inside, you can find interactive digital displays. These screens give you information about Dallas landmarks, the Reunion Tower itself, and even show live views from high-definition cameras. Outside on the observation deck, there are telescopes that let you see far in every direction.
The Cloud 9 Cafe is also on the observation deck. It serves meals and snacks, and you can enjoy a 360-degree view from behind glass windows.
At the bottom of the tower, there is a gift shop. You can buy souvenirs related to Reunion Tower, Dallas, and Texas there.
Reunion Tower in Movies and TV
The Reunion Tower has appeared in many movies and TV shows:
- It was featured in a scene in the second season of the TV show Dallas.
- The tower was the setting for the ending of the 1986 action movie Getting Even.
- It appeared as a symbol of a future society in the 1980 film The Lathe of Heaven.
- Shots of the building can also be seen in the 2011 film The Tree of Life.
- Reunion Tower is in the opening credits of the long-running CBS TV series Dallas.
- You can also see Reunion Tower in the 1987 film Robocop, even though the movie is set in Detroit.
- In the 1997 TV movie Asteroid, the Reunion Tower is destroyed during a meteorite shower. This is the only disaster movie known to show the tower being destroyed.
- It appeared in the final episode of The Amazing Race 26.
- The entertainment group Dude Perfect made a shot from Reunion Tower in their video "Reunion Tower Shot".
- Reunion Tower can be seen in an episode of Halt and Catch Fire called "High Plains Hardware".
- Reunion Tower can also be seen in some episodes of the TV series Walker, Texas Ranger.
Images for kids
-
Reunion Tower - Dallas, USA
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
See also
In Spanish: Reunion Tower para niños
