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Previously Unreleased Photos Show Epic Space Needle Construction

While photos of the Space Needle construction have been around for years, nothing has come close to the sweeping collection taken by George Gulacsik.

April 8, 2016 - National Edition
Construction Equipment Guide

Photo: George Gulacsik/Seattle Public Library. Fearless workers install outrigger fins on the Space Needle high above Seattle in this Nov. 29, 1961 photo.
Photo: George Gulacsik/Seattle Public Library. Fearless workers install outrigger fins on the Space Needle high above Seattle in this Nov. 29, 1961 photo.
Photo: George Gulacsik/Seattle Public Library. Fearless workers install outrigger fins on the Space Needle high above Seattle in this Nov. 29, 1961 photo.
 Photo: George Gulacsik/Seattle Public Library. Workers take up precarious positions as they install the outrigger fins on the Space Needle in December 1961. The under-construction KeyArena (then known as the Washington State Pavilion) can be seen in the background. Photo: George Gulacsik/Seattle Public Library. In this photo from early December 1961, a worker is seen on the restaurant level of the Space Needle, with downtown Seattle in the background.
 Photo: George Gulacsik/Seattle Public Library. In this October 1961 photo, workers are securing cross-ties to one of the Space Needle's legs high above the city.
 Photo: George Gulacsik/Seattle Public Library. Crane operators were crucial to the construction of the Space Needle. This one is shown in July 1961, hard at work on the project.

The website Seattlepi is reporting that thousands of photos taken over the course of the Space Needle's construction have only just now been digitized and released to the public.

While photos of the process have been around for years, nothing has come close to the sweeping collection taken by George Gulacsik.

For most of the world, the Space Needle is the symbol of Seattle.

No photo of the Emerald City skyline is complete if it's missing the iconic tower, built to be a part of the 1962 World's Fair.

The construction of the 605-foot-tall Needle is something of its own marvel, largely completed in less than a year and with engineering that would allow it to withstand howling winds and serious earthquakes.

More than 2,400 photos taken over the course of the Needle's construction show not only the size and scope of the hurried project, but also the fearlessness of workers who regularly walked beams and narrow planks hundreds of feet above Seattle without so much as a thread to keep them from falling.

For the full article and access to more pictures, click here

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