Everything about The Express Lift Tower totally explained
The
Express Lift Tower is a former
lift testing tower built by the
Express Lift Company off the Weedon Road in
Northampton,
England. The structure was commissioned in
1978 with construction commencing in
1980, and was officially opened by
Queen Elizabeth II on
November 12 1982.
Designed by architect Maurice Walton of
Stimpson and Walton, the tower is 127.45 metres (418.1 feet) tall, 14.6 m (47.9 ft) in diameter but tapers to 8.5 m (27.9 ft) at the top. The only lift testing tower in Britain, it was granted Grade II
listed building status on
October 30 1997, at the time making it the youngest listed building in the UK.
It gained the nickname "The Northampton Lighthouse" from broadcaster
Terry Wogan on his
BBC Radio 2 programme. The building has never been open to the general public.
In January
1997, the tower fell out of use after Express Lifts was taken over by
Otis and subsequently closed. In
1999, the tower and surrounding land was sold to
Wilcon Homes for development. The building has been threatened with demolition after being found to have so-called "
concrete cancer", but this plan faced strong opposition from local people, and
as of 2008 the tower's future is uncertain although demolition may be difficult due to the proximity of the new housing development. A song was written by a local school boy to highlight the plight of one of Northampton's most beloved monuments, however it failed to achieve commercial success.
The building was inspected by abseilers in November 2006, to help the owners formulate a maintenance strategy and evaluate possible future uses of the tower. Suggestions so far have included luxury apartments, a research centre for lift engineering students at the
University of Northampton and a climbing and abseiling centre.
It is the only such tower in the UK, and one of only two in Europe.
Further Information
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