Posted November 12, 200420 yr Well, a lot of you have seen a few of these pics - I decided to re-scan them (back when I had a film camera) and blow 'em up. The story goes like this - back in the day, Paul_In_Cleveland (another forumer from Cleveland) had a friend who worked in the tower. Well, they finaggled a way for us to get up to the 57th floor to take some pics. Here's what it looks like (it's never been rented since construction - the owner decided not to locate his operations there): Some views (sorry about the reflections): Then the security guard said (and this is well before Sept. 11th so there's no chance any one will ever get to do this again) "well if you're willing to sign a waiver, we can let you go OUTSIDE to snap a few pics". Well, here are the results and I still can't thank Paul enough - btw, the red dot shows where we were: Looking west, with the Federal Courthouse tower, RTA tracks/bridge, Cuyahoga River, Detroit-Superior Bridge... Top of Terminal Tower: The 'floor' of "58" - notice the lack of a barrier... there's nothing holding someone back. The little 'antenna' looking thing? That's a lightning rod: Now, to get this shot, we had to kneel down with our backs to the edge and tilt up. My knees were wobbly after this: Lakewood and the Gold Coast: BP and the Gateway stadia (Gund Arena and Jacobs Field): The Warehouse District, bridges in the Flats, mouth of the Cuyahoga River: Back over to the southeastern view: Tower and Galleria at Erieview: Eaton Center: One Cleveland Center: clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
November 12, 200420 yr Nice pics! I went up there this summer and they wouldn't let us go to the upper floors. You know, with terrorism and all... :roll:
November 12, 200420 yr whoa holy shit :shock: that top floor would make for an awesome artist loft lol Awesome shots. I remember when i was a little kid going to the top of Terminal Tower with my grandparents, that was back when it was the tallest though
November 12, 200420 yr Fantastic. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
November 14, 200420 yr Seeing the top of the Terminal Tower from above is just fantastic. I love that shot...wish I could go there!
November 14, 200420 yr This BS about closing obervation floors and such is ridiculous. "Sorry sir, we can't allow anyone up there - they might be carrying a fuel-laden airliner in their pocket" As for that hypothetical terrorist with the nuclear device crammed up his colon or whatever - Does it matter where he detonates it? 58th floor, 1st floor, across the street, Public Square - I'd say you're equally screwed. It's the institutional equivalent of duct tape.
November 14, 200420 yr well i think the tower city observation deck has been reopened. Key never had one, although it should.
November 15, 200420 yr What all can you see from up there (assuming it's a clear day)? Canada? Toledo? Cedar Point? PIB? Detroit?
November 15, 200420 yr How far can one see from there? Well, the radius of the earth is 6366.19772ish km (line A below), and the height of the building is 288.65 meters (radius of the earth + 289 meters = line C). So using Pythagorus, we know A^2 + B^2 = C^2: Solve for B, and you find you can see the surface of the earth 60 km away (37 miles). Now that's just the surface - that's seeing a rowboat on a still lake 37 miles away. Canada's probably 60 miles away across the lake, so you couldn't see the Canadian shoreline, but depending on how quickly the ground rises from the lake, it might be possible to see some of Canada. I don't know what the topography is over there - but in theory, on a clear day, if they had a Key Tower sized structure (be that terrain or buildings), you could see the top of it. But Detroit and Toledo are both a good 100 miles away - even if they had a Key Tower, you'd fall far short of seeing its top. Cedar Point is closer, but still a good 50 miles away. You might be able to pick out the top of a 200 foot structure, but that would be pretty tough going. Don't know what PIB is...but I'm sure you can see Lakeview Cemetery! Some caveats here - the tower is 289 meters, but the pictures were taken from lower than that. However the tower wasn't built on lake level - I'd imagine it's 40 or 50 feet above the level of the lake. So these numbers are all pretty rough - but generally a pretty good guide.
November 15, 200420 yr PIB = Put-in-Bay, Ohio From the top of the Perry Monument in PIB you can see mainland Canada, Toledo, Detroit, and Cedar Point
November 15, 200420 yr Ah, I see. The monument stands 352 feet, and it looks like it's around 30-35 miles from Toledo. If it's 30 miles to Toledo, you could see everything over 38 feet tall. Mainland Canada only looks like it's 20ish miles away, so you could see the actual shoreline. Hard to tell how far away Detroit is, but if it's 45 miles away, you could see everything higher than 350 feet. But Cleveland's probably 60 miles away. You'd be able to see everything over 971 feet tall - which pretty much includes planes approaching CLE and the glow from the city lights...
November 16, 200420 yr Great pics, MayDay! Too bad that floor ain't open to the public. If the view from Terminal Tower is amazing enough, the view from the top of Key must be even better. I have a question. In the "Lakewood and the Gold Coast" photo, does anyone know what that group of buildings, all the way out on the horizon, is? At first, I thought it was North Olmsted's "skyline" (the two highrise apartment buildings near Great Northern Mall), but it's way too far north to be that. Could it be something in Elyria or Lorain, or are those cities too far out?
May 28, 200817 yr I really like Terminal Tower. Back when it was built, they made high-rises with intricate details but unfortunately they're so high up and far away that most people never even see them.
May 28, 200817 yr look at all the development that has been completed since this thread was initially posted. Stonebridge, the Avenue district and a few things in the WHD. Also "the Gund" and "the Jake" have changed names.
May 28, 200817 yr So, Mayday, were you actually outside when you took that picture pointing up? Yikes! I'm having heart palpitations just thinking about that.... :-o
May 28, 200817 yr Hey at least they didn't ask him to go up to the flagpole and lower the flag! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 28, 200817 yr So, Mayday, were you actually outside when you took that picture pointing up? Yikes! I'm having heart palpitations just thinking about that.... :-o Yes, I was outside on the "58th" floor - I had to step close to the edge, turn around and kneel down and point the camera up. Like I said, my knees were shaking after that. KJP, Key Tower has only once had a flag attached to the spire ;-) clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
June 3, 200817 yr ^me too! Cleveland really needs to do something sweet with its lakefront like Chicago.
February 10, 201015 yr I bet that was an amazing experience being up there. I know when i was at the top of the terminal tower i felt that way atleast. But i cant even imagine how it felt to be outside
May 7, 201510 yr Wow what a great website this is. I did a Google search to see if there was an observation deck and found this link. Best view in Cleveland and none of us will get to enjoy, thanks for these amazing pics!
May 7, 201510 yr What link? I'm assuming they mean they found the link to Urban Ohio via a Google search for views from the Key Tower
May 8, 201510 yr I also posted some pics two years ago from the 30-somethings in Key Tower. And 15 years ago I got permission from Key Corp to shoot pics from the executive dining room atop Key Tower for a book that never happened. The executive dining space is beyond incredible. It's a two-level space with a curving staircase, piano lounge and an elegant dining room for lunch and some dinners. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
July 17, 20159 yr Possibly the best thread ever, which I had to bump. A law firm finally occupied 57.
July 17, 20159 yr Amin Turocy and Watson. clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
July 17, 20159 yr I heard it was another company -- I.C., Canada & Howe. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
July 17, 20159 yr I bet that was an amazing experience being up there. I know when i was at the top of the terminal tower i felt that way atleast. But i cant even imagine how it felt to be outside Isn't the top of Terminal (52nd floor) open air?
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