At the top of the tower was luxury 5 star revolving restaurant, the facade and floor of the restaurant revolving as one unit, while the roof of the restaurant was used as an observation platform for visitors. There are 558 stairs up to the top, and two lift shafts which reach the top in 30 seconds. The tower is structurally independent of the adjacent shopping centre, with a simple foundation onto sandstone. The foundation is 60 feet in diameter, 17 feet deep and begins 40 feet below Houghton Street. It has a tapering shaft that was built using slip-formed concrete. The crows nest structure at the top was then added after the shaft was formed. The original restaurant closed in 1979 for health and safety issues. It was re-opened, with a reduced capacity and additional fire prevention measures, during the early 1980s. The restaurant was eventually re-fitted as a "Buck Rogers" space-themed restaurant in 1983, but closed again due to lack of business. After this the observation deck and the restaurant remained closed. In the following years, the tower lay empty and derelict. Often dubbed an eyesore or a "White Elephant", an attempt to increase its attractiveness was made when blue "UFO style" neon strip lights were added to the perimeter of the tower in 1994. In late 1998, Radio City expressed interest in refurbishing the tower to house Radio City and Magic 1548, including their studios and required office space. The plan was announced and in the interim Radio City would regularly broadcast from the beacon along with its infamous lightshows. Work commenced in 1999 and was completed in the summer of 2000.
Radio City Tower (1999-present)
The tower was refurbished in 1999 at a cost of £5 million. It reopened as Radio City 96.7 in August 2000. The outdoor observation deck which had been located on the roof of the restaurant was transformed into a second floor; this now holds offices and conference rooms for both radio stations. The studios are on the lower floor that used to be the restaurant. The original revolving structure and machinery were left intact during the refurbishment. Brackets were added to lock the moving structure in place. The Tower has been known to often sway in heavy winds. This is a design in construction within skyscrapers and tall building in order to prevent the building snapping at its base or cracking its shaft. During the refurbishment between the 1st and 2nd floor, the Radio City 96.7 lettering was added which illuminates yellow during nighttime. Several other lights were added into the base of the crows nest structure which illuminate all day and periodically change colour. During Christmas time a beam of light is fired at the base of the tower. The 2nd floors windows are often illuminated at night with a particular colour to mark certain events. A red aircraft warning light sits on top of the Beacons advertisement framework to warn planes of its height at night. The refurbishment added an advertising framework at the top of the tower designed for both a fabric banner and illuminated light boxes. Window cleaning must be performed by specialist teams who abseil down the side of the tower in order to clean the windows and often change light bulbs in the Radio City signage and the crows nest base lights. The roof is home to the local 10C Digital Audio Broadcasting multiplex for Liverpool, but Radio City and Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool do not directly broadcast from the roof. Their FM signal is transmitted by the Allerton Park Transmitter along with BBC Radio Merseyside on 95.8FM and Capital Liverpool on 107.6FM In 2017 the Liverpool-based tech startup Scan And Make organised the first edition of the art contest exhibition Making Art 4.0 in the Radio offices. In 2018 an artwork banner was displayed on the beacon's advertisement framework which was titled, “Liverpool 2018” to celebrate 10 years after Liverpool's 2008 Capital Of Culture events. As of June 2020, the tower houses the studios for the local programming of Radio City and Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool. Radio City Talk ceased broadcasting on 31 May 2020 by Bauer Media deeming it as not financially viable to run due to low listening figures.
In 2010, the Radio City Tower's first floor was opened full-time to members of the public on paying an entrance fee. This fee is usually around £5-£6. Visitors can spend as long as they wish in the tower. The gallery gives the opportunity to view Liverpool from a 360* Panoramic view 452ft above Houghton Street. However, visitors cannot walk the full length of the building due to News offices for Radio City and Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool occupying a quarter of the space. Although technically this still gives a 360* view.
Radio Stations
Initially Radio City and Magic 1548 started broadcasting from the tower but the tower was actually refurbished with 3 studios and a small recording and news studio. In 2008 the then City Talk 105.9 started broadcasting from studio 3. Radio City broadcast from Studio 2 and Magic from Studio 1. In 2015 with the revamp of local stations and the creation of Bauer City 1, Bauer City 2 and Bauer City 3, Magic 1548 became Radio City 2 and City Talk 105.9 became Radio City Talk and swapped frequencies with Radio City 2. A new station, Radio City 3 launched on 19 January 2015. This station did not need a dedicated studio as all output came from The Hits Radio in Manchester but contained local adverts and news. It was later dropped from the lineup in 2017 and eventually The Hits Radio became Hits Radio in 2018. Radio City 2 rebranded as Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool, North West and North Wales in January 2019. Radio City Talk ceased broadcasting on 31 May 2020 due to low listening figures. Radio City is now part of the Hits Radio network and still broadcasts its 2 locally produced shows from Studio 2.
Zip Wire Proposal
In late June 2020, a proposal was put up by ZipWorldUK for a new permanent £4M Zip Wire that would start from the second floor of the Beacon and end in Liverpool’s Central Library. The project has had mixed public opinions, with most people claiming it would give Liverpool “A false sense of Disneyfication” and that it would be a permanent defacing of one of the city’s world famous landmarks. Many library users also expressed concerns over the noise of the zip wire disturbing library users. The plan went before the City Council and on 30 June 2020, the plans were approved.
