Seattle’s Giant Waterfront Ferris Wheel Set for Inaugural Spin June 29

It’s not open yet, but Seattle’s giant waterfront Ferris Wheel–175 feet in diameter–has already won a place in Seattleites’ hearts, and in 449 Twitter feeds (follow along @SeaFerrisWheel). There’s a fan page on Facebook, and this informational page. The Grand Opening is set for Friday, June 29th, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at around 5 p.m., so mark your calendars. Tickets are expected to be around $12 $13 for adults, less $8.50 for children.

For those of you with vertigo, Great Western Pacific, Inc., also runs a carousel right next door, so you have your choice.

GWP’s Hal Griffith is looking prescient now–he proposed the giant Ferris Wheel back in 2010, as an incentive to get people to visit the waterfront despite the disruption of the Viaduct’s replacement. As he told the Puget Sound Business Journal then, “Everybody on the waterfront is in for some tough sledding. The whole idea is that this wheel will be a meaningful enough attraction to get people to come down here even though it’s a little more difficult than it used to be.”

Now, the Seattle Times is running exactly that story–”Tunnel work cuts into waterfront business“–while Griffith’s Ferris Wheel is basking in anticipatory publicity.