130ft iconic tower to be new gateway to the Mersey

Nov 1 2007 by Amy Salter, Liverpool Daily Post

AN ICONIC tower, twice as high as the Angel of the North, is set to become the new gateway of the River Mersey.

It will replace the old radar tower that has guided shipping into the Port of Liverpool since the 1980s.

Designers from around the world were yesterday invited to enter a contest to create a replace-ment observatory for the radar tower close to Crosby Marina.

The aim is to come up with a show-piece structure that will attract a million visitors a year.

A decision to launch the com-petition came after architects concluded that the stunning location overlooking Antony Gormley’s Iron Men, demanded a structure of international standards.

Originally the aim had been to turn the current structure into an observation deck.

Instead the 71ft high tower will go to make way for a 130ft high observatory – exactly twice the height of Gormley’s Angel of the North alongside the A1 in the North East.

Although the radar is still operational, access has been restricted since the tower ceased to function as a working office, due to its condition.

A spokesman for Mersey Basin Campaign said the radar tower will be demolished to make way for the new design.

Other partners involved in the project include the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Mersey Waterfront, Waterloo Residents’ Association and owner of Liverpool docks, Peel Holdings.

A spokesman for the Mersey Basin said: “The Observatory will allow visitors to enjoy one of the rarest views in Britain, taking in the Liverpool Bay, Wirral Peninsula and the mountains of North Wales.”

Local resident, Ian Hamilton Fazey, chairman of Waterloo Residents’ Association, said he hoped the Observatory would be an iconic image for those arriving by sea: “The old tower looks like a hideously deformed, overgrown concrete mushroom and hardly the way to greet international visitors as they enter from Liverpool Bay.

“The new observatory will be a signature structure representing a resurgent Liverpool and Merseyside.”

It will be one of three attrac-tions in the area, alongside art installation Another Place, by Antony Gormley and the planned Sefton Water Centre.