In summer, a common stop for visitors to Seattle is the Smith Tower (506 Second Avenue), which offers a panoramic observation deck on the 35th floor, wrapping around the Chinese Room. The room’s hand-carved wood ceiling, Blackwood furniture, and 17th-century art panels (encased in glare-producing, photography-resistant plastic) were gifts to tycoon Lyman Cornelius Smith from the Empress of China, just a year before her death in 1908.
From May to October, the observation level is open from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., although that’s not on the dot. Adults will be asked to surrender $7.50 upon arrival at Floor 35 (children under 5 are free), and you receive a ticket that you must hand over to Yohannes, the elevator operator, in order to make your return trip to the ground. But first, you’re told to wait in the lobby for Yohannes to bring the car down (you may or may not wish to know that six of the seven Otis Elevators are still powered by their original DC motors).
This morning we were greeted by no less than four attendants in the lobby, who sent for word from upstairs to check if the room’s attendant was ready for visitors. We cooled our heels for a few moments, inspecting the wood sculpture and woven furniture and acres of gleaming brass. Around 10:10, Yohannes arrived and started to usher us into the elevator, but was prevented by the concierge–a brief conflicted discussion ended with Yohannes upward bound to confirm the Chinese Room was open. Yes, it was, he said, on his return, just like he’d said the first time. “Speak English, why don’t you?” said the concierge. This felt very much like New York.
Yohannes has been elevating tourists at Smith Tower since about 2003, he said, in a way that suggested we were not the first to ask. We rode up with a British couple, not letting on that we were locals. Depending upon your susceptibility to vertigo, you will likely spend most of your time inside or outside the Chinese Room. The views from the surrounding deck are breathtaking, not least the $1-billion view to the south, encompassing as it does two very expensive stadiums.
But you can also watch tiny cars tool along the Viaduct, or through the heart of downtown. The Space Needle peeks out at you through the buildings. And Elliott Bay’s enormous tongue laps at the city’s front as if the Sound is not feeling hungry, yet.
Inside, you can sit in the Wishing Chair and concentrate on getting married–the carved figures of a dragon and a phoenix are related to the concept of a harmonious marriage. The chair’s legend insists that a sincere unmarried woman who sits in it will be married within a year (as you can rent the 35th Floor for weddings and other private events, this seems like a promotional offer). There is no hint of what it does for men, insincere or otherwise.
Smith Tower opened in 1914, boasting 540 offices to be filled with L. C. Smith office equipment and a height of 522 feet, which made it the fourth tallest building in the world. For almost 50 years, it would remain the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Now you can glower, or even shake a fist, at the Columbia Center (932 feet) across the way, which was the tallest building west of the Mississippi when it was built in 1985 but is now fourth-tallest.
The Columbia Center also has an observation level, but nothing there symbolizes a harmonious marriage.
