Dec 24, 2014

Building Tangent: Woolworth Building

Googling "Building Tours" tonight, looking for a building that would be interesting for the Emerging Leaders & Young Professionals committee, I came across the Woolworth Building, the tallest building in the world...

" On the night of April 24, 1913, the Woolworth Building illuminated the New York night as 80,000 incandescent bulbs throughout the tower flashed on, activated when President Woodrow Wilson flipped a ceremonial switch in Washington, D.C. The brilliant spectacle was a career-crowning achievement for the tower’s owner, the five-and-dime store king Frank W. Woolworth, who paid for the skyscraper with his personal fortune and took a hands-on role in every decision of its design. " http://www.skyscraper.org/EXHIBITIONS/WOOLWORTH/WWat100PR.pdf (Skyscraper Museum Press Release)

Two things struck me from the press release:

80,000 incandescent bulbs throughout the tower flashed on, activated when President Woodrow Wilson flipped a ceremonial switch in Washington, D.C

  1. 80k incandescent bulbs... WTF, can you imagine how much electricity that building consumes? Can you imagine if the building ever decided to go under a renovation that would change the over to LED's? I can't even imagine!!!
  2. President Woodrow Wilson flipped a ceremonial switch in Washington D.C..... I really REALLLLLY want to know more about this. Why?? How?? 


Interesting article related article:

http://tribecacitizen.com/2013/03/04/what-i-learned-about-the-woolworth-building/

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