Happy 20th birthday Spinnaker Tower - a stunning icon of our amazing city of Portsmouth
TWENTY years of a stunning Portsmouth icon have been celebrated as the Spinnaker Tower played host to its own special birthday celebration.
It was back in October 2005 that the tower first opened to the public and it has since welcomed more than five million visitors from across the world who have had the chance to explore the views, the stories and the magic of Portsmouth and the Solent from a whole new level.
In marking the milestone general manager Richard Hale said: ‘The Spinnaker Tower represents more than just a stunning piece of architecture - it was a statement of confidence, a signal that Portsmouth was looking upwards and outwards and embracing a maritime heritage and history while steering towards a bold and exciting future.’
The 20th anniversary was marked at a black tie celebration last weekend when guests were welcomed by a champagne reception on the tower’s viewing deck before enjoying a three-course meal. Dignitaries, community leaders, inspirational people from across the city and those with close ties with the building were invited to what was a special occasion.
Richard said the tower had been the scene of visits from around the globe, families celebrating milestones, couples getting engaged, school visits and much more while also making a special mention to the brave abseilers, with more 50,000 raising well over £1m for good causes by taking the more daring route to ground level.
He added: ‘Twenty years is a wonderful milestone but it is just the beginning - the Spinnaker Tower will keep rising above the harbour, welcoming visitors, challenging expectations and reminding us all what can be achieved when a community believes in itself.’
In raising his own toast, city council leader Steve Pitt said the Spinnaker Tower was a rare thing - a genuine icon. He described how it was regularly used to show off the best of the city, from welcoming new guests like dignitaries from the Canadian twin city of Halifax to the official launch of Portsmouth as the 2025 UK city of Pride.
In a stirring reference to forces of disharmony which seek to create divide in communities around the country he added: ‘All these sorts of events and the partnerships you have with this building and the team that run it - and also with each other - are what makes Portsmouth a stronger place. We are living in a time when lots of people want to break things apart. What we need to keep doing is making sure we pull each other closer together.’
The £35.6m Spinnaker Tower - also known as the Millennium Tower - was approved in September 1995. Work commenced in November 2001 and the tower opened on October 18, 2005.
On the opening day, it welcomed more than 1,000 guests in the first three hours… although it wasn’t such an auspicious start for David Greenhalgh, the council's project manager at the time, who became trapped 100ft in the air for more than an hour in the tower’s external glass lift. Despite years of trying to make the lift operational, it was eventually removed in 2012.