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Not
content with having the tallest building in America , the
owners of Willis Tower in Chicago have installed four glass
box viewing platforms which stick out of the building 103
floors up. |
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The
balconies are suspended 1,353 feet in the air and just out
four feet from the building's Skydeck. |
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Visitors get their first view from The Ledge --
four glass balconies suspended from the Tower |
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Fearless:
Five-year-old Anna Kane
spreads out on the floor of the 10ft square box
which is 1,353 ft up
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John Huston, one of the owners of the Willis Tower,
even admitted to getting 'a little queasy'
when he ventured out on to the balcony.
However,
after 30 or 40 trips,
he seems to have become used to it.
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Long way up:
Even the floor of the platforms are glass
- few are brave enough to look straight down. Although
some adults felt dizzy after experiencing The Ledge,
children seemed to take it in their stride.
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Designers say the platforms -
collectively dubbed The Ledge -
have been purposely created to make visitors feel
as they are floating above the city.
The reward is unobstructed views of Chicago from the
building's west side
and a heart-stopping vista of the street
and Chicago River below -
for those brave enough to look straight down.
It's like
walking on ice.
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Architect Ross Wimer said:
'We did studies that showed a 4' X 4' deep enclosure
makes you feel like you're detached from the building
particularly since
there's only room for one row of people.'
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The Ledge is the world's most awesome view,
the world's most precipitous view,
the view with the most 'wow' in the world.
The balconies are 10ft high and 10ft wide,
can hold five tons,
and have glass which is 1.5 inch thick. |
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Thrill seekers:
The boxes jut out four feet from the building
and
were specifically designed to attract visitors. The
Willis Tower has always been about superlatives
- tallest, largest, most iconic.
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Inspiration came from the hundreds of forehead prints
visitors left behind on The Skydeck windows every week.
Now,
staff have a new glass surface to clean:
Floors!
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The Ledge is accessible from The Skydeck
which attracts 25,000 visitors on clear days.
They each pay $15 to take an elevator ride
up to the 103rd floor of the 110-story office building
that opened in 1973. |
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