St Johns Beacon (also known locally as the Radio City Tower) is a Grade II listed communications and observation tower in Liverpool, England. Designed by James A. Roberts Associates, it was built in 1969 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II. The tower is tall, It is shorter and newer than the BT Tower in London, another communications tower built with a revolving restaurant.

The building housed the studios and offices of local commercial radio station Radio City (now known as Hits Radio Liverpool) alongside its sister station, Greatest Hits Radio, from 2000 to 2024.

Early history

At the top of the tower was a luxury revolving restaurant, the façade and floor of the restaurant revolving as one unit, while the roof was used as an observation platform for visitors. There are 558 stairs up to the top, and two lift shafts with lifts reaching the top in 30 seconds.

The tower is structurally independent of the adjacent shopping centre, with a simple foundation onto sandstone. The foundation is in diameter, deep and begins below Houghton Street. It has a tapering shaft that was built using slip-formed concrete. The crow's nest structure at the top was added after the shaft was formed.

The original restaurant closed in 1979 for health and safety issues. It was re-opened, with a reduced capacity and additional fire prevention measures, during the early 1980s. The restaurant was eventually re-fitted as a Buck Rogers space-themed restaurant in 1983, but closed again for lack of business.

thumb|St John's Beacon viewing gallery logo

In 2010, the building's first floor was opened to members of the public. The gallery gave the opportunity to view a 360° panoramic view of Liverpool.

The viewing gallery closed in December 2024.

Failed zip wire proposal

In late June 2020, Zip World proposed plans for a permanent £5 million zip wire to be installed in Liverpool City Centre, which would have started from the second floor of the Beacon and end on the roof of the Central Library. The project attracted mixed public opinions, with many people claiming that it would be a permanent defacing of one of the city's world famous landmarks. Others expressed concerns that the noise of the zip wire could disturb library users. The plans went before Liverpool City Council, which on 30 June 2020 approved them; however, on 2 September 2020 it was reported that Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson was withdrawing permission for this use of the Central Library, effectively vetoing the proposal.

See also

  • BT Tower
  • List of tallest buildings and structures in Liverpool
  • List of towers
  • Architecture of Liverpool

References

  • Radio City Tower at Skyscraper News
  • Making Art 4.0 Making Art 4.0 Exhibition in the Radio City Tower 2017.
  • Entry at Skyscraperpage.com