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CANADA
2006 |
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| THE
CN TOWER |
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| Above: A close up of the
CN Tower during the day. Below: A close up of the CN Tower at night. (Not too shaky for a hand-held night time shot!!) |
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We made two separate visits to the CN Tower. One at night when we all had dinner in the excellent revolving "360 Restaurant" that is housed in the circular section near the top of the tower. Below is a (rather poor) composite stitched photograph of the CN Tower, made from two photographs: |
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| ABOUT
THE CN TOWER The CN Tower was built by the Canadian National Railway. Initially the construction project was to be a joint venture between Canadian Nation Railway and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The tower was to form the major communications hub for the city and the structure which the CBC would also use a the major transmission facility for television and radio in Toronto and the surrounding area. In the end, the CBC pulled out of the construction project, but still pay Canadian National to use the structure to transmit its programmes. The tower is 181 storeys, 553.33m (1,815 ft., 5 in.) high and it is the world's tallest building and free-standing structure. Construction of the tower was completed on February 22, 1974, and the antenna was completed on April 2, 1975. It opened to the public on June 26, 1976 with the official opening on October 1, 1976. The original cost was $63 million (That’s probably around $300 million in 2006 money!) Total weight of the Tower: 117,910 metric tonnes. The Glass Floor was opened on June 26, 1994 and the 360 Restaurant was opened on April 25, 1995. While the CN Tower remains an important communications hub, and the major radio and television transmitter for the area, today its most profitable function is as a tourist attraction. The visitor attendance is about 2 million per year, while the total off season staff is approximately 400 with about 550 working during the high season. The Look Out observation level is at a height of 346 meters (1136 feet), the SkyPod above is at a height of 447meters (1465 feet). We did not actually go up to the SkyPod, but we did walk across the Glass Floor, which is at a height of 342 m (1122 feet). The Broadcast Facilities at the top of the CN Tower comprise: UHF, VHF Television; FM Radio; Microwave Transmissions; Fixed Mobile Systems. Broadcasting companies that broadcast from the tower include; CBC Channel 5 & 25, CFMT 47, CFTO 9, City 57, Global/CIII 41, TV Ontario 19, LOOK Communications (Digital), CHFI/Rogers, CFNY FM, CHIN FM, CHUM FM, CILQ FM, CJEZ FM, CJRT FM, CKFM FM, Bell Canada, Cantel, Motorola, TTC SOME VIEWS FROM THE 360 RESTAURANT AND THE OBSERVATION AREA OF THE CN TOWER These photographs are taken through the windows of the "360 Restaurant" and observation area near the top of the CN Tower. It is an amazing experience actually looking down onto the roofs of the 'sky-scrapers' below! |
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THE BANK OF MONTREAL The next tallest building in Toronto, after the CN Tower, is The Bank OF Montreal building shown in the next two photographs. The BMO building is also home to various television and radio transmitters. The transmitting aerials can be clearly seen on the second of these two photographs: |
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| The
photo above looks down onto the roof of the CBC
Broadcast Centre THE GLASS FLOOR - NOW THAT'S
SCARY!
The glass floor is a rather breath-taking experience. It allows you to look vertically down at the ground below from a height of 1122 feet (342 m) ! |
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Below is a photograph of a typical Canadian moose - in fancy dress! This is in the CN Tower visitor centre where there is a gift shop with a huge variety of things to buy, from pencils and pens, various statues of the tower, clothing such as caps, t-shirts and sweat shirts etc. There is also a cafe area. |
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From the observation area of the CN Tower it was possible to see four large transmission towers in the distance towards the south west. They were actually most easily spotted at night when eating in the "360 Restaurant" becuase of their flashing red lights. These aircraft warning lights appeared to alternate between lighting up the top of the the two nearest masts and then the two rear masts and so forth. I did not know what these masts were at the time, but later discovered that they were near Oakville. After some research I found that that they are used by the radio station NEWSTALK 1010 CFRB. Thanks to the Ontario DX Association for this information and the photograph below which is by Steve Canney: |
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| The
four mats near Oakville of NEWSTALK 1010 CFRB You can see more about this and other radio stations in the Toronto area on the CBC Broadcast Centre page. |
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BELOW: A mural near to the CN Tower, with one of the characters seemingly pointing up at the tower. |
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NEXT PHOTOGRAPHS - THE CBC BROADCAST CENTRE > > |
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