Sutro Tower
Encyclopedia
Sutro Tower is a 299 m three-pronged antenna tower near Clarendon Heights in San Francisco, California
. Rising from a hill between Twin Peaks and Mount Sutro
, it is a prominent part of the city skyline and a landmark for city residents and visitors. However, many local people opposed the tower even before it was completed, including criticism of the aesthetic effect the tower would have on the rest of San Francisco. San Francisco writer Herb Caen
once wrote, “I keep waiting for it to stalk down the hill and attack the Golden Gate Bridge
.” Acknowledging both displeasure and affection for its undeniable prominence on the city's skyline, it is sometimes referred to light-heartedly as the Sutro Monster.
affiliation was transferred to KNTV
, that station chose to broadcast from San Bruno Mountain
which is five miles south of Sutro Tower. This requires viewers in some locations to reorient their antenna in order to receive the NBC programming.
, and the tower was completed in 1973, with the first transmissions on July 4, 1973. Approximately 3750 m³ (132,430 cu ft) of concrete were used to make the foundation of the 3.7 million pound (1,700 tonne) tower. Earthquake proofing includes ballasting two thirds of the weight of the structure below ground, resulting in a center of gravity at sixteen feet below ground level. It is used to transmit the signals of eleven television stations and four FM radio stations and for various other communications services.
The tower is owned by Sutro Tower, Inc., which in turn is owned by a consortium
of the four major television broadcasters in San Francisco; KTVU
(owned by Cox Enterprises
), KRON-TV
(owned by the San Francisco Chronicle
at the time of the tower's completion, now owned by Young Broadcasting
), KPIX (a former Group W
property, now owned by CBS Corporation
) and KGO-TV
(an ABC
-owned station). Sutro Tower also leases space to other Bay Area radio and television stations, including PBS
outlet KQED, independent station KOFY-TV and KBCW, a sister station to KPIX.
Two other Bay Area TV stations are unable to be located at Sutro Tower -- the NBC
owned KSTS
, and KTVU's duopoly partner KICU-TV
. They transmit from east of Fremont
in order to serve Oakland and the East Bay, and San Jose and the South Bay -- their respective cities of license.
Named after Adolph Sutro
, a businessman and former mayor of San Francisco who had a mansion located about 100 feet away from where the tower is now located, the tower stands 299 m (981 ft) above ground and 552 m (1,811 ft) above sea level. It is the tallest structure in the city, surpassing the 258.4 m (847.8 ft) Transamerica Pyramid
by more than 39 m (128 ft). In addition, it is built on one of the highest peaks in the city, the old site of the Sutro Mansion owned by Adolph Sutro's descendants.
The original design of the tower called for white lights longitudinally rising along its three legs to the top. When opened, these lights were lit. However local resistance and aesthetic considerations forced the operators to turn off the lights and they have never been used since.
The facility is accessible only by authorized vehicles. The area near the site offers beautiful panoramic viewpoints of San Francisco. There is a platform near the top of the tower, 232 m (761.2 ft) above ground. Only authorized maintenance workers can access the tower via a small two-person elevator that runs inside the west tower enclosed leg. There is no public access within the Sutro Tower property lines.
On a clear day, the tower can be seen from the East Bay
peak of Mount Diablo and is sometimes the only part of San Francisco seen above the coastal fog
when it is blown inland, typically on summer mornings and evenings.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Rising from a hill between Twin Peaks and Mount Sutro
Mount Sutro
Mount Sutro is a hill in San Francisco, California. Most of Mount Sutro remains private property owned by the University of California, San Francisco , but a parcel, including the summit, has been set aside as the Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve and is open to the public. It is one of San...
, it is a prominent part of the city skyline and a landmark for city residents and visitors. However, many local people opposed the tower even before it was completed, including criticism of the aesthetic effect the tower would have on the rest of San Francisco. San Francisco writer Herb Caen
Herb Caen
Herbert Eugene Caen was a Pulitzer Prize-winning San Francisco journalistwhose daily column of local goings-on, social and political happenings,...
once wrote, “I keep waiting for it to stalk down the hill and attack the Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
.” Acknowledging both displeasure and affection for its undeniable prominence on the city's skyline, it is sometimes referred to light-heartedly as the Sutro Monster.
Purpose
Before the construction of Sutro Tower, television reception in San Francisco was spotty because the many hills of the city would block the line-of-sight television signal. The great height of the new tower helped to resolve that problem. Transmitters had been scattered throughout the Bay Area, including at San Bruno Mountain, Mt. Allison, Monument Peak, and Mt. Diablo. By having all the main Bay Area television station transmitters in one location, reception was improved by allowing a receiving antenna pointed in a single direction to receive all those stations rather than a subset. However, after the NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliation was transferred to KNTV
KNTV
KNTV, channel 11, is the NBC owned-and-operated television station in the Bay Area market. It is licensed to San Jose, with its transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain, just south of San Francisco. It shares facilities in San Jose with NBC Universal sister station KSTS and CNBC's Silicon...
, that station chose to broadcast from San Bruno Mountain
San Bruno Mountain
San Bruno Mountain in northern San Mateo County, California is the northernmost part of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Most of the mountain lies within the San Bruno Mountain State Park, a unique open-space island in the midst of the San Francisco Peninsula's urbanization. Next to the state park is the...
which is five miles south of Sutro Tower. This requires viewers in some locations to reorient their antenna in order to receive the NBC programming.
Construction
Construction commenced in 1971 by Kline Tower of Columbia, South CarolinaColumbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
, and the tower was completed in 1973, with the first transmissions on July 4, 1973. Approximately 3750 m³ (132,430 cu ft) of concrete were used to make the foundation of the 3.7 million pound (1,700 tonne) tower. Earthquake proofing includes ballasting two thirds of the weight of the structure below ground, resulting in a center of gravity at sixteen feet below ground level. It is used to transmit the signals of eleven television stations and four FM radio stations and for various other communications services.
The tower is owned by Sutro Tower, Inc., which in turn is owned by a consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
of the four major television broadcasters in San Francisco; KTVU
KTVU
KTVU, virtual channel 2 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to Oakland, California, the station has been owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the...
(owned by Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...
), KRON-TV
KRON-TV
KRON-TV, virtual channel 4 , is a television station in San Francisco, California, serving as the Bay Area affiliate of the MyNetworkTV programming service; the station is owned by Young Broadcasting...
(owned by the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
at the time of the tower's completion, now owned by Young Broadcasting
Young Broadcasting
New Young Broadcasting Holding Co, Inc. is an owner of 14 television stations in 11 United States media markets. The company was formerly known as Young Broadcasting Inc. and was the outgrowth of the ad representation/invest firm Adam Young, Inc. which was founded in 1944 by Adam Young and is...
), KPIX (a former Group W
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
property, now owned by CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
) and KGO-TV
KGO-TV
KGO-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, based in San Francisco, California...
(an ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-owned station). Sutro Tower also leases space to other Bay Area radio and television stations, including PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
outlet KQED, independent station KOFY-TV and KBCW, a sister station to KPIX.
Two other Bay Area TV stations are unable to be located at Sutro Tower -- the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
owned KSTS
KSTS
KSTS is the NBCUniversal owned and operated Telemundo television station in the San Francisco Bay Area market. The station is located in San Jose, California and broadcasts on digital channel 49. KSTS shares facilities with NBC sister operation KNTV. The new all-digital broadcast center was opened...
, and KTVU's duopoly partner KICU-TV
KICU-TV
KICU-TV, known as TV36, is an independent television station in the San Francisco Bay Area market. It shares its broadcast facility with sister station KTVU in Oakland but it is licensed to San Jose, where KICU was formerly located. It is owned by Cox Enterprises. It runs an independent schedule...
. They transmit from east of Fremont
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Niles, Irvington, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs...
in order to serve Oakland and the East Bay, and San Jose and the South Bay -- their respective cities of license.
Named after Adolph Sutro
Adolph Sutro
Adolph Heinrich Joseph Sutro was the 24th mayor of San Francisco, and second Jewish mayor, serving in that office from 1894 until 1896...
, a businessman and former mayor of San Francisco who had a mansion located about 100 feet away from where the tower is now located, the tower stands 299 m (981 ft) above ground and 552 m (1,811 ft) above sea level. It is the tallest structure in the city, surpassing the 258.4 m (847.8 ft) Transamerica Pyramid
Transamerica Pyramid
The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline and one of its most iconic. Although the building no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo...
by more than 39 m (128 ft). In addition, it is built on one of the highest peaks in the city, the old site of the Sutro Mansion owned by Adolph Sutro's descendants.
The original design of the tower called for white lights longitudinally rising along its three legs to the top. When opened, these lights were lit. However local resistance and aesthetic considerations forced the operators to turn off the lights and they have never been used since.
Views and access
On a clear day, the tower can be seen from the East Bay
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
peak of Mount Diablo and is sometimes the only part of San Francisco seen above the coastal fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
when it is blown inland, typically on summer mornings and evenings.
Significance
Despite the initial revulsion of residents, Sutro Tower is now mostly tolerated by locals and figures in local art, TV, and movies as one of the architectural symbols of the city. A local entertainment guide, SF Station.com uses it as its logo, as well as the collaborative art game, SF0.org, and SF based Ultimate Frisbee team Jam, 2008 UPA National Champions.External links
- Official Site of Sutro Tower, Inc
- Sutro Tower and Mount Sutro at sutrotower.org
- Antennae diagrams indicating which stations broadcast from Sutro
- User page with information about Sutro Tower
- Sutro Tower Community Perspectives