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Highest glass-floor elevator -world record set by
CN Tower
[April
9] TORONTO, Canada--The recently completed elevator of CN
Tower has a 346metres high elevator with two glass-floor
panels - a world record for the higheswt glass floor elevator.
Photo: Looking down from the new glass floor
panels in the CN Tower. The enhanced elevator includes two
glass floor panels each almost 7 cm thick. (CNW Group/CN
Tower)
"At the tower we continually do upgrades to all
of our equipment, including elevators and it was time to do
an upgrade to this elevator,'' Jack Robinson, the tower's
chief operating officer, said-insisting it has nothing to
do with losing its claim to fame.
"We took the opportunity to not just upgrade
the elevator, but to put in a world class attraction, if you
want to call it that, in the form of a glass-panel floor.''
The 553-metre building was knocked out of the
top spot by the Burj Dubai -- a 160-storey hotel, residential
and commercial building in the United Arab Emirates.
The glitzy $4.1-billion building, which is still
under construction, is already 629 metres and counting.
Despite a steady flow of some two million visitors
a year, Robinson said the
CN Tower is always trying to reinvent itself.
"We started off with six glass-faced elevators...
We added a glass floor (on an observation deck) about 10 years
ago. We added a world class wine cellar, the world's tallest
wine cellar,'' he said.
"Last year was the pinnacle in getting the tower
lit and now we have a new face in Toronto on the skyline and,
this year, the elevator.
"Every year we like to think we add something
of value for our visitors.''
Thousands of enthusiastic Toronto visitors and
residents visiting the Tower on April 9th were delighted to
be among the first to ride the enhanced elevator and experience
the new view. Visitors reveled with awe in the sensation of
ascending and seeing the ground dramatically drop away at
6m/second.
Traveling at a speed of 22km/15mph, the
Tower's six glass-fronted elevators rocket guests to the top
of its glass-fronted elevator shaft - 346m/1136ft in 58 seconds,
earning the distinction as the World's No. 1 elevator ride.
As part of the Tower's ongoing upgrades,
the elevator car replacement was recently completed to include
two glass floor panels each almost 2 1/2 inches thick (2 5/16
inch (5.08 cm)) which when combined total almost 0.6m2 (6ft2)
of the total 3.64m2 (39.25ft2) elevator floor space.
The glass panels in the enhanced elevator
were designed using the same technology, strength and durability
standards of the CN Tower's famous Glass Floor which has been
walked on and experienced by millions of people since it was
first installed in 1994.
Due to popular demand, a ride aboard the
enhanced elevator is subject to availability, with priority
given to Total Tower and Premier Ticketholders at this time.
The Total Tower experience is the CN
Tower's do-it-all best value ticket and includes Look
Out, Glass Floor and Sky Pod Observation Levels, Film, and
Motion Theatre Ride for $32.99 plus applicable taxes (over
30% savings).
"We believe this elevator will be extremely popular
and hope to have as many as three of the CN
Tower's six elevators enhanced with this feature in
the future," announced Robinson.
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