Radio City Tower (also known as St. John's Beacon) is a radio and observation tower in Liverpool, England, built in 1969 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II. It was designed by James A. Roberts Associates in Birmingham. It is 138 metres tall, and is the second tallest free-standing building in Liverpool and the 32nd tallest in the United Kingdom.[2] When considering the height of the building, it has a 10m long antenna on the roof, making it the tallest structure in Liverpool (including antennas). As testament to the importance of its design, which was described by Historic England as “embodying the technological bravura and spirit of the space age”, the building was listed at Grade II in November 2020. The tower takes its name from the main radio station that operates from it, Radio City and its sister station Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool & The North West. At the top of the tower was a 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 with lifts reaching the top in 30 seconds. The tower is structurally independent of the adjacent shopping centre, with a simple foundation onto sandstone. Originally it was built as a chimney of the heating system of the shopping centre [1].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.
