TV tower to serve as launching pad

Photo: Koko Arhitektid

The next stage in the development of the Tallinn TV tower prescribes, among other things, a glass platform 175 meters from the ground and the possibility of gliding down a steel cable to the Pirita valley a few kilometers from the tower.

Manager of the TV tower Riina Roosipuu said the foundation has secured itself a place on the Estonian tourism landscape. “We hold a stairs run every spring that attracts runners from all over the world, and that has served as one of the events in the world series. We celebrate the tower's birthday with base jumpers every summer,” she said.

Roosipuu said that the tower's 160,000 annual visitors firmly put it among the country's three most visited tourism objects, next to the Sea Plane Harbor and the Ahhaa science center, but added that keeping that position requires daily effort.

The TV tower will soon host a new restaurant. “We had a restaurant here for the first five years of business. This summer we held a competition and found a new operator for the restaurant – Kratt Resto OÜ whose concept is more aimed at locals. They want to be a hip local restaurant that also caters to foreigners,” the manager said.

Flying spaceship

The tower is planning a new 21st floor permanent exhibition in cooperation with architecture bureau KOKO Arhitektid The new exhibition will concentrate on e-Estonia achievements and displaying their best examples in a playful form. Visitors will also be given feedback in terms of their own readiness to use e-solutions while perusing the exhibit.

Creative director of KOKO Arhitektid Andrus Kõresaar said that the bureau has had ideas for the TV tower for years, and that these thoughts, some of which began in 2013, have finally been structured and will be published now. The land around the tower that currently hosts a few playgrounds will be utilized to greater effect.

Kõresaar said that ideas for the outside area carry a space theme where the tower itself plays the role of a spaceship traveling through the solar system. The tower will be in the center, surrounded by circles depicting planets. The solar system can be seen from up in the tower, and the installation can be used to teach children about space and Earth's place in our solar system.

“When we go to these planets on the ground, they are all attractions based on their planet's special properties. For example, Saturn has rings, and it is possible to go in some planets and find activities there,” Kõresaar said.

Looking down from on high

In addition, the tower is planning adrenaline-pumping attractions that have to do with height the likes of which have never been seen in Estonia.

“They could be an extra reason to visit the TV tower. One such thing would be a glass cube in which people could go over the edge of the roof. Right now it is possible to walk the ledge wearing a harness. However, the system is busy, requires a short training course, and therefore sets limits on the number of guests who can use it,” Kõresaar explained.

A simpler way to experience the altitude would be a glass cube hung over the edge of the platform the transparent floor of which would allow people to virtually step over the edge and look 175 meters straight down.

For those looking for even greater thrills, the tower is planning a zip line attraction that would take visitors down 1,800 meters from the tower from where a 2.2 kilometer hiking trail would take them back to the tower.