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The CN Tower
Open Jun-Oct daily 8am-11pm. Rest of the year daily 8:30am-10pm (Fri & Sat 10:30pm), variable hours on statutory holidays. Closed Dec 25
This concrete, rocketlike structure reaches 180 storeys (over 553m/1,815ft in height). Constructed at a cost of $63 million, the tower is the tallest freestanding structure in the world and a popular Toronto tourist attraction (some 2 million visitors a year). Begun in 1972, the tower was built over a four-year period by federally owned Canadian National (formerly Canadian National Railways) to provide telecommunications services. Topped by a powerful antenna, the tower serves FM radio and television stations, whose transmitters line the mast. At the base of the tower, a multilevel "bubble," opened in 1998 as part of a $26 million update, houses interactive computers, video presentations and virtual thrills. In only 58 seconds visitors are "beamed up" 346m/1,136ft (nearly the height of the Empire State Building) in one of six exterior glass-front elevators to the look-out level, a seven-storey-tall, circular steel "turban." From its observation decks, views of the city and suburbs, the lake and shoreline are superb (panels identify buildings and parks), providing a vivid aerial orientation to Toronto. One floor down, intrepid visitors can stand or sit on the glass floor, a section of thick glass panels that permit an impressive view 342m/1,122ft straight down to the ground below.
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