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  #2781  
Old Posted Nov 18, 2010, 11:28 PM
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Main Plaza

Ok I think I got it, now I have resized the image so it won't be so large.
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  #2782  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2010, 12:36 AM
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Hey Model, What kind of camera did you use for the wonderful landscape photograph that you took of the city? The city needs more amateur photographers such as myself, and more professional photographers such as yourself, so that more pictures of our great city can be exhibited here on Skyscraperpage.
I also want to know what the pixelation is on your camera. Apparently, the more I try to make my pictures bigger, the quality of them becomes much less.

Oh, I also want to know if you have any photographs of the gargoyles on the Tower of Life Building close up. I have yet to see any photographs of them up close, so that I can see what kind of gargoyles they are. Animals, maybe?
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  #2783  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2010, 6:59 AM
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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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  #2784  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2010, 3:37 PM
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Quite a bit of news out of Tobin Hill that we might have to keep a close eye on.

I read this on mysa.com and got reminded of some info I forgot to mention previously;

Tobin Hill residents laud renewal efforts
By Edmond Ortiz - Editor/North Central News

Quote:
Banners will go up around the Tobin Hill neighborhood, just north of downtown San Antonio, designed to give residents and visitors an instant, impressive message: Business here is good.

....................

Kelley said a request for proposals recently went out for a $30 million mixed-use development project at North Main and Laurel near Crockett Park.

“It's hugely important to note that more residential spaces are going up in and around downtown. More people are living and working around here, and this mixed-use project will affect that,” she said

read more............
Here is more info from the ACC website.

from one of the PDF's

Quote:
Project Summary
Property - The Site is located adjacent to San Antonio College along Main Avenue.
Approximately 1 ½ miles from Downtown San Antonio.
Location - The Site is at the Southeast corner of the San Antonio College Campus, in an established retail area with numerous restaurants, retail stores, and related businesses.
Site Condition - The Site contains several small structures that are slated for demolition. The remainder of the Site is occupied by a paved, surface parking lot.
Infrastructure - City sewer and water, natural gas, electric and telephone are all available to the Site Fiber optic cable and Wi-Fi are also available.
Intended Land Use - Mixes of uses which demonstrate the highest and best use of the Site; incorporating mid- and high-rise structures with low-rise components, including residential, retail, service, entertainment and institutional uses.
Scope of SAC Projects - A 100,000 sf Educational Building and a 2,000 Ton Satellite Physical Plant will be located on the SAC Campus. A 1,000 space Joint-Use will be locating within the study area.
Thats alot of space for someone to work with, especially since they will be allowed to go up.

Edit:

In other DT news, besides the opening of Lüke on Monday, we also have a Bar & Grill opening soon on Houston near Alamo Plaza, a possible BBQ place on Broadway where Tongs Thai was supposed to be, and Taco Garage opening where the IHOP Cafe was at the Vistana; Subway is opened on Santa Rosa side at the Vistana. Thats a good local and non-chain mix (except Subway of course) for Houston St. to counter some of the Riverwalk action; could be reason enough for people to venture up.
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Last edited by miaht82; Nov 23, 2010 at 4:54 PM. Reason: Adding info
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  #2785  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2010, 6:09 PM
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That sounds really nice! I hope it happens.
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  #2786  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2010, 10:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ydoc14 View Post
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
Since it's not an antenna, does the flagpole raise the official height to 550 feet?
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  #2787  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2010, 2:26 AM
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I don't think that a flagpole by itself counts in calculating the height of a building, but ydoc14 does raise a good point, literally.
The point at which the flag flies, does make it one of the highest flying American flags in the country. Unless, we are proven wrong by someone in Timbuktu. Here is a photo that I took just recently of the Tower of Life Building. The Vistana hugs it in the distance.
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  #2788  
Old Posted Nov 21, 2010, 1:30 AM
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after doing a little research, it's very possible that the TL flag could be the highest flag in the world

Yes, you read that right!

These are the current highest flags in the world:
Baku - 531'
Gijeong-dong - 525'
Ashgabat - 436'
Amman - 433'

This is the current highest flag in America:
Laredo - 308'

...the TL flag is most definitely the highest flag in America...and, if it is at about 500' then that would make it the 3rd highest in the world, and it could possibly be higher than that which would make it the #1!

i couldn't find any skyscrapers around the world higher than TL with a flag on top. that doesn't mean there aren't any, but i couldn't find any. maybe some of you guys would want to dig around too?

either way this is exciting news...the CVB should really play this up

here's two pics i snapped the other day



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Last edited by ydoc14; Nov 21, 2010 at 2:48 AM.
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  #2789  
Old Posted Nov 21, 2010, 6:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by max7 View Post

If the top of TL is still 404' and the observation deck of the TOA is 579', then making a rough guestimate using the horizon line and rough judgment from this photo, I'd say the top of the flagpole is around 510-515' (give or take).
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  #2790  
Old Posted Nov 21, 2010, 7:21 PM
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if 404' is to the apex of the roof, then the flag is ~536'...if 404' is to the base of the flagpole, then the flag is ~500'.
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  #2791  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2010, 6:27 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ydoc14 View Post
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
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?
No. And none of the buildings I listed above use their flagpole heights in their official heights.
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  #2792  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2010, 6:53 AM
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Also, we had been talking about lighting a while back. I remember saying it'll probably be required to have a red aircraft warning light. Is it up there yet? I'm also wondering about the flag being lit. The proper procedure for flying a flag after dark is lighting it, it's actually against the rules not to. I doubt it would be brought down every night, (shorter flagpoles do this), but it should have to be lit if they adhere to the official flag rules. If it was to be lit, it would make for a really neat sight on the skyline.
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  #2793  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2010, 8:00 AM
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Thanks Kevin for clearing it up. Honestly, I was surprised to think that there wouldn't be higher flags elsewhere. Still, it's impressive, and I drove to Alamo Stadium today to see it from that view...very impressive from that view and actually adds height to the skyline imo...

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  #2794  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2010, 8:27 AM
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Wow! That flag really is huge. That one flagpole I mentioned in Seattle flies a 20x30 foot flag on a 90 foot pole, so that should give you some idea of how big this one is.

Knowing the height of that flag is around 504 feet should make it easier judging the heights of any new buildings, plus the existing ones. It's easily higher than the roofs of Grand Hyatt and Marriott Rivercenter, but I'm not sure it's higher than the roof/box of the Weston Centre. Of course, in that shot Weston Centre is closer to the camera, but I've always thought it looked taller than any other building on the skyline, minus the TOA.

Quote:
Originally Posted by max7
Oh, I also want to know if you have any photographs of the gargoyles on the Tower of Life Building close up. I have yet to see any photographs of them up close, so that I can see what kind of gargoyles they are. Animals, maybe?
Here is some really good Tower Life Building porn (haha) that includes very nice closeups of the gargoyles. The photos were taken from the building, and include some nice night shots of the new flagpole/flag.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8337908...7603789405100/

This is interesting.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/flickr-...7622965415337/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7832191...267255/detail/

^That link shows the restored cupola/lantern. It looks like the restored section is maybe 5 feet high or so. It's hard to tell since you don't have much to judge from scale-wise. I'd say the building is probably around 410 feet tall now, putting the flagpole at 510 feet. And from those photos, it looks like there will be no red light. The flood lights on the flag are just the existing ones on the roof.
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  #2795  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2010, 8:40 AM
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  #2796  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2010, 8:13 PM
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So as I sat here downtown they have taken down the US flag from the Tower Life building and put up the Texas flag as well as what appears to be the city of San Antonio's flag, though it is hard to tell from right now since all of the windows I am looking out of have the blinds down...I'll try to venture out and take a pic.

I wonder if they plan to switch up the flags often or maybe they're trying out which ones to fly...
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  #2797  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2010, 8:28 PM
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..........

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  #2798  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2010, 8:53 PM
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Weird, after 5 minutes of posting that they took down the flags again and raised up the Texas flag by itself...here's a quick pic w/ my phone as it was being raised

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  #2799  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2010, 9:16 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by max7 View Post
Hey Model, What kind of camera did you use for the wonderful landscape photograph that you took of the city? The city needs more amateur photographers such as myself, and more professional photographers such as yourself, so that more pictures of our great city can be exhibited here on Skyscraperpage.
I also want to know what the pixelation is on your camera. Apparently, the more I try to make my pictures bigger, the quality of them becomes much less.

Oh, I also want to know if you have any photographs of the gargoyles on the Tower of Life Building close up. I have yet to see any photographs of them up close, so that I can see what kind of gargoyles they are. Animals, maybe?
Hello,
I use a Canon EOS 5D.
I don't have any close ups of the gargoyles, but I will try to do some real soon. I work downtown so I have a lot of chances. If you would like to see more of my work, click: http://www.photoreflect.com/store/th...aspx?e=5565577
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  #2800  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2010, 10:11 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by necropolis View Post
Weird, after 5 minutes of posting that they took down the flags again and raised up the Texas flag by itself...here's a quick pic w/ my phone as it was being raised


There...........That's more like it!

Come on! This is Texas, not "america"!
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