Defining the Toronto skyline at 553.33m (1,815ft5in), the CN Tower is Canada’s most recognizable and celebrated icon. The CN Tower is an internationally renowned architectural triumph, an engineering Wonder of the Modern World, world-class entertainment and dining destination and a must see for anyone visiting Toronto. Each year, over 1.5 million people visit Canada’s National Tower to take in the breathtaking views and enjoy all the CN Tower has to offer.
After 40 months of construction, the CN Tower was opened to the public on June 26, 1976 and it was well on its way to becoming the country’s most celebrated landmark. It is the centre of telecommunications for Toronto serving over 16 Canadian television and FM radio stations, the workplace of over 500 people throughout the year, and an internationally renowned tourism destination.
Although the CN Tower inspires a sense of pride and inspiration for Canadians and a sense of awe for foreign tourists, its origins are rooted in practicality. The 1960s ushered in an unprecedented construction boom in Toronto transforming a skyline characterized by relatively low buildings into one dotted with skyscrapers. These buildings caused serious communications problems for existing transmission towers, which were simply not high enough to broadcast over the new buildings. Signals bounced off the buildings creating poor television and radio reception for residents. With its microwave receptors at 338 m (1,109 ft.) and at the 553.33m (1,815 ft., 5 inches) antenna, the CN Tower swiftly solved the communications problems with room to spare and as a result, people living in the Toronto area now enjoy some of the clearest reception in North America.
The CN Tower was built in 1976 by Canadian National who wanted to demonstrate the strength of Canadian industry by building a tower taller than any other in the world. Building the CN Tower was a vast and ambitious project that involved 1,537 workers who worked 24 hours a day, five days a week for 40 months to completion.
Tower construction crews moved in on February 6, 1973, and started to remove over 56 metric tonnes of earth and shale for the foundation. Once the foundation was ready, work began on the CN Tower’s 335 m (1,100ft.) concrete shaft, a hexagonal core with three curved support arms. This involved pouring concrete into a massive mold or “slipform”. As the concrete hardened, the slipform, supported by a ring of climbing jacks powered by hydraulic pressure, moved upwards, gradually decreasing in size to produce the CN Tower’s gracefully tapered contour.
Eight months later, the CN Tower’s concrete shaft was the tallest structure in Toronto and by February 1974, it was the tallest in Canada. In August 1974, work began on the seven-story tower sphere that would eventually house the observation decks and revolving restaurant. The CN Tower approached completion in March 1975, when Olga, the giant Sikorsky helicopter flew into the city to lift the 44 pieces of the antenna into place. The CN Tower was finished on April 2, 1975, and opened to the public June 26, 1976.
