Quote:
Originally Posted by ydoc14
i've been having some more thoughts on tower life & the flag...
first off, and i'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but could this be the (or at least one of the) highest flags in America? The flag is likely near 500'.
i'm always saying that san antonio has the most interesting and unique skyline in texas. i think with the flag there can no longer be any question about this. while you can't make out what the flag is, it is still very visible in the skyline even from miles away. tower life has always been a landmark and a treat for tourists, but i'm not sure that it's always been an attraction. i think it will be now. i'm not a tourist in san antonio, but if i was, there are now 3 things in downtown i want to see on my visit: the alamo, the riverwalk, and tower life
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No, there are higher flags. It's not even the highest one in Texas. And I'm sure there are more in the US.
The height for the Tower Life Building itself that I've always heard is 404 feet. The height that I have for the flagpole is 100 feet. That came from the San Antonio Express-News article on it. That puts the top of the flagpole at 504 feet. The old antenna that was atop the building was 164 feet tall. It may be slightly taller, though, probably less than 10 feet more than 504 feet. The reason I say that is when they added the huge antenna in 1953, they removed part of the original cupola/lantern atop the building. When they removed the antenna, they restored the cupola/lantern to its original 1929 appearance before replacing the flagpole. So it may be slightly taller than the 404 foot number we've always heard. But, I doubt it's more than 10 of height since it doesn't appear that they actually added much height to the building's roof.
This
San Antonio Express-News article quotes the flagpole as being 100 feet tall, and the old antenna as being 164 feet. There's no way the flagpole is taller than the old antenna. That thing was a monster, even taller than the antenna atop the Tower of the Americas.
Here's the Emporis page for the Tower Life Building.
http://www.emporis.com/application/?...antonio-tx-usa
The highest flagpole in Texas is the one atop the American General Center in Houston. The building itself is 590 feet tall with 42 floors. I'm not sure how tall the flagpole is, but it's at least 50 feet tall which would make the flag higher than the roof of the TOA at somewhere around 640 feet.
http://www.emporis.com/application/?...houston-tx-usa
The highest one I can think of in the US is the one atop Two Union Square in Seattle. The building itself is 740 feet tall. The flagpole is 90 feet tall, but is on a lower part of the roof, and rises only 56 feet higher than the roof, so it tops out at 796 feet above the street. The flag itself is 20x30 feet. The top of the flagpole is higher than the antenna atop the Tower of the Americas.
http://www.emporis.com/application/?...seattle-wa-usa
The 2nd highest one I can think of is atop the Terminal Tower in Cleveland. The building itself is 708 feet tall, while the flagpole tops out at 771 feet.
http://www.emporis.com/application/?...eveland-oh-usa
345 California Center in San Francisco is 620 feet tall to the roof, but it also has a pair of spires that top out at 695 feet. Atop the two spires are two flagpoles that top out at 721 feet.
http://www.emporis.com/application/?...ancisco-ca-usa
There is also the Carew Tower in Cincinnati. The building itself is 574 feet tall. According to emporis the flagpole tops out at 623 feet. That height isn't visible to regular users of Emporis, you have to be an editor to see it.
http://www.emporis.com/application/?...cinnati-oh-usa
One America Tower in Indianapolis. The building is 533 feet tall, while the flagpole tops out at 613 feet.
http://www.emporis.com/application/?...napolis-in-usa
There are more. These were just ones off the top of my head. I'm willing to bet New York and Chicago have a few, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JackinNYC
Since it's not an antenna, does the flagpole raise the official height to 550 feet?
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No. And none of the buildings I listed above use their flagpole heights in their official heights.