Ride up Skylon Tower to dine, watch the Falls

By Todd Moning
FMCA.com editor

Riding an elevator. Eating at a restaurant. Watching water fall. At Skylon Tower, ordinary things like these become extraordinary.

Skylon Tower, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, is a 520-foot-tall structure overlooking the world's most famous waterfalls. When visitors see the outside-mounted yellow elevators carrying passengers up the side of the tower, they can sense this is a one-of-a-kind experience.

The dome
Within the tower's dome, which sits high atop a tapered shaft, three separate levels provide unobstructed views of Canada and United States. Visibility is up to 80 miles on clear days.

On the first floor of the dome is the Revolving Dining Room. A three-horsepower motor turns the dining room floor at one revolution per hour, enabling visitors to dine while rotating above Niagara Falls. At night, colored lights illuminate the Falls. Talk about a table with a view.

Going up …
The indoor/outdoor observatory is on the third, or top, floor. It is 477 feet from ground level, 732 feet above the base of the Falls. Horseshoe Falls, American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are visible from the top of the Skylon.

Three glass-enclosed elevators each can take up to 30 passengers to the top level in 52 seconds. The elevators are referred to as "yellow bugs" because they are painted yellow and have windows that, from afar, resemble the eyes of a bug.

Summit Suite Dining Room, offering buffet-style dining, is on the second floor of the dome. Levels at the base of Skylon Tower include the plaza, the main concourse, and SkyQuest, an indoor amusement park with rides and arcade games for the whole family.

Making the tower
Skylon Tower was built in 1964 using "slip form" construction technique. This entailed pouring concrete continuously for 38 days straight while the slip form, 40 inches in height, was inched upward one inch every 10 minutes. It took more than 48 million pounds of concrete to build the structure, including the underground foundation.

Workers built the circular form for the base of the dome, 108 feet in diameter, at ground level. Over eight days, the 200-ton base was raised 380 feet to the top of the shaft using hydraulic jacks and cables. After the cement was poured and solidified, the form was lowered back to the ground.

Price and parking
A trip up to the observation deck costs, in U.S. funds, $7 for adults, $6.30 for seniors and $4.05 for children 12 and under. These prices do not include the GST (goods and services tax).

Reservations are recommended for the Revolving Dining Room, which offers continental cuisine. Skylon Tower has a large parking lot that can accommodate motorhomes. A parking fee is charged.

For more information, call (888) 366-9297, send an e-mail to skyinfo@skylon.com or visit the Web site listed below.

Skylon Tower
www.skylon.com