An American
Icon
By Susan Jewell
You've seen it in over 90 movies, including North by Northwest, Annie Hall,
and King Kong. It was named the 7th wonder of the engineering world by
the American Society of Civil Engineers. More than 3 million people visit it's
observation deck each year. What is this American Icon? The Empire State
Building in New York City.
At the time of its completion in 1931, the Empire State Building held the
mantle as the tallest building in the world. For 40 years it remained the
tallest building in New York City, until completion of the North Tower at the
World Trade Center. Since its collapse on 9/11, the Empire State is once again
the tallest.
Built in just two years at a cost of slightly less than $41 million, the
construction project employed 3400 workers. At 102 stories, and with
2,768,591 square feet of rentable space, the building is a list of superlatives.
While the construction cost was extraordinary for that time, the renovations
in 2011 totaled $550 million.
Some other interesting historical notes about the Empire State Building:
• Added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on November
17, 1982
• Designated U.S. National Historic Landmark on June 14, 1986
• The architectural drawings for the building were completed in just
two weeks, using the original designs for the Reynolds Building in
Winston-Salem, NC and the Carew Tower in Cincinnati, OH as a
starting point.
• 5 workers were killed during the construction
6 Today’s Roofer / June 2015