1999: The year the Needle was designated an official Seattle landmark.
25: The number of people who can be carried in a Needle elevator.
43: The number of seconds it takes to go from the ground to the Top House.
800: The speed per minute of the elevators, in feet.
45: The number of minutes to make one revolution of the glass floor.
60 million: Estimated number of people who have visited the Needle from 1962-2017. The
Needle is the number one tourist attraction in the Pacific Northwest.
NEEEDLE PEOPLE
The idea for Needle was first doodled on a napkin or placemat by Seattle hotel executive
Edward “Eddie” Carlson during a visit to Stuttgart, Germany in 1959. He saw the potential of a
Space Age tower as a symbol for the 1962 fair and the Seattle skyline.
Five Seattle investors organized the “Pentagram Corporation” to build the Space Needle. They
were financier Bagley Wright, contractor Howard S. Wright, architect John Graham, Jr., financier
Ned Skinner, and timber magnate Norton Clapp. The Howard Wright Construction Company was
the general contractor. In 1977 Bagley Wright, Skinner and Clapp sold their interests to Howard
S. Wright. The Pentagram Corporation has since become the Space Needle LLC.
Chief architect John Graham, Jr. oversaw the design. He wanted a top to the Needle that
resembled a UFO. He also had built a revolving bar in Hawaii and adapted that turntable
technology to the Needle, making it the first free-standing rotating restaurant in the world.
Elvis Presley made a movie at the fair that featured a love scene in the restaurant.
During the fair the Needle was a magnet for ‘60s leaders, artists and celebrities including The
Shah and Empress of Iran, King Olaf of Norway, Prince Philip, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson,
Bobby Kennedy, Walter Cronkite, John Wayne, Walt Disney, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Johnny
Mathis, Billy Graham, Peggy Lee, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Leontyne Price, Chubby Checker,
and scores of other.
Many celebrities have visited the Needle since, including Kelsey Grammer and all the cast of
Cheers, Mike Myers, Demi Moore, Melanie Griffith, the original cast of Star Wars, John Travolta,
Vanna White, Michael Douglas, Tim Robbins, Claudia Schiffer, Scott Bakula, Paul Reiser, Bruce
Lee, and numerous others.
Renowned moon-walking astronaut Buzz Aldrin visited in 2012 to present the winner of the
Space Race promotion celebrating the Space Needle’s 50th Anniversary. The grand prize: a sub-
orbital trip into space.