The Battle For Tallest Status
The owners of the Capella Tower (formerly First Bank Place) and the architects behind the design stated that it rose 774 feet (235.9 m) tall upon its completion in 1992. However, the height had been increased due to an engineering need, according to Tom O'Mara, the building's construction manager. There were some ventilation ducts near the roof that required about 14 more inches (36 cm) of height. O'Mara added an extra 10 inches (25.4 cm) to that, bringing the building to a total of 776 feet 0 inches (236.5 m).
In the years following completion, the actual height eventually became known as it was published in almanacs and other listings of building height. The owners of the Capella Tower were hesitant to claim that their building was taller than IDS, and usually deferred the honor to the more well-known structure. As area journalists reported on the sale of the IDS Center to the John Buck Company in 2004 and the death of designer Philip Johnson in 2005, they came face-to-face with the fact that the roof of the tower was one foot lower than its neighbor.
Emporis.com restored the IDS Center to first-place status in the city in February 2005 by including the height of the window-washing garage, although that has not completely ended the dispute. A spokesperson for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which sometimes handles height disputes, stated that it would be unlikely for the garage to be included in the official height because many would not consider it to be an integral part of the building's design.
It is unclear if the height of the Capella Tower reaches to the top of the "halo" surrounding the screen walls (walls designed to hide cooling towers on the roof), so the height of the flat roof might be somewhat shorter, or that building might similarly be able to add to its height by including the additional structure. Presently, the IDS is considered to be 15 feet (4.6 m) taller than the former First Bank Tower.
It is also important to note that height measurements are sometimes incorrectly reported due to conversion from U.S. customary units to the metric system and back again. The IDS was often reported as 774 feet (235.9 m) in height because of this problem, occasionally appearing to be two feet shorter than its competitor.
Read more about this topic: IDS Center
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