When the CN Tower was just a 'stump'
Concrete tower posed unique engineering problems during construction phase in 1973
Someday it was going to be "the tallest superstructure in the world."
But in August 1973, the CN Tower resembled an oversized tree stump plunked into an industrial stretch of Toronto next to the railway tracks.
As the CBC camera panned from the city's downtown core showing the black monoliths of the Toronto-Dominion Centre and the top of the Royal York Hotel, reporter Tony Hillman described what the stump was projected to become by early 1975.
The tallest tower
"It is at that moment ... that Metro Toronto can lay just claim to the tallest superstructure in the world, dethroning the current record-holder, the Ostankino Tower in Moscow," Hillman said.
So far, though, an architect's model would have to be enough to convey what the tower would look like when complete.
"The public will enter the tower amid the lush greenery and reflecting pools that will carpet the base," said Hillman as the pictures showed construction work on the tower. "Then they'll be whisked up over 1,100 feet to the main observation level."
Four glass elevators facing the outside of the building would carry people up in a matter of 60 seconds.
Tower officials, "leery" of how visitors might react to such a trip, had sought advice from a psychologist.
'Something substantial'
"He came up with the solution," said Hillman. "Tape several black stripes on the face and sides of the transparent elevators, giving passengers the reassurance that there is indeed something substantial between them and the empty space outside."
As its vertical contours developed, the concrete of the tower had shown something curious.
"Engineers discovered that just like plants, the CN Tower has a tendency to lean towards the sun," said Hillman.
And Hillman said the three prongs that made up the base somehow preferred different directions as they grew taller: the two to the north turned counter-clockwise, the southern one clockwise.
"Every week or so, minute adjustments are made to take this architectural oddity into account," said Hillman.
Adjustments would also have to be made to the tower's address of 41 John St.
"As one CN official put it, 'that's hardly an appropriate address befitting the tallest building in the world.'"
The tower opened to the public on June 26, 1976; today its address is 301 Front St.
