From the second-tallest free-standing structure in Liverpool you can see as far as the Lake District, Blackpool and Snowdonia. St Johns Beacon - or if you're a local the Radio City Tower - was once home to a radio station and a rotating restaurant.
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00:00From the second tallest free-standing structure in Liverpool, you can see as far as the Lake District, Blackpool and Snowdonia.
00:07St John's Beacon, or if you're in Liverpool, the Radio City Tower, was once home to a radio station and a rotating restaurant.
00:16The construction of St John's Beacon began in 1965, its main purpose to provide a ventilation shaft for the shopping complex below,
00:24and on completion was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
00:28Standing 138 metres above sea level, the tower was the tallest building in the city and remained so until the erection of Beetham's West Tower.
00:38It's a Grade II listed building due to its historic and architectural interest.
00:43As Historic England say, its space age design embodies the spirit of the space age and is a physical expression of popular culture at the time,
00:54representing a bold and optimistic 1960s vision of the future after the horrors of the Second World War.
01:01Originally it included a rotating dining establishment known as the Tower Restaurant, one of only two in England, the other being at the BT Tower in London.
01:10The restaurant closed in 1979 and then reopened in the early 1980s, at one point being styled as a space age Buck Rogers themed restaurant before closing again.
01:20After becoming somewhat of an eyesore whilst lying derelict for so long, the tower was refurbished and reopened as a working radio station, Radio City 96.7 in 2000.
01:31And in 2010, the building's first floor was opened to the public as a viewing gallery.
01:36In 2024, Bauer Media announced that it would be vacating St John's Beacon after 24 years,
01:42following a decision not to renew the lease, but the final show's broadcast from the tower aired on the 24th of December.
01:50It is without a doubt one of Liverpool's most iconic landmarks.
01:55Love it or loathe it, it forms a key part of the city's famous skyline.