The restaurant featured a 14-foot-deep (4.3 m) carousel (or ring-shaped) dining floor on which sat patrons' tables, chairs, and dining booths. Its floor revolved on a track and wheel system weighing roughly 125 tons, moving at a rate of one revolution every 47 minutes. It was the oldest operating revolving restaurant in the world at the time of its closure.[5][6] Due to the balance and precision of its design, the floor's rotation is accomplished using just a single 1½-horsepower motor.[7]
The restaurant was closed in September 2017 for the $100 million "The Century Project" renovation at the Space Needle, with plans for the dining area to be outfitted with a clear glass floor.[13] The glass floor would enable diners to view the city below them and also the mechanics that operate the revolving floor.[14] When completed, SkyCity was to have the world's first revolving restaurant with a glass floor.[13][15] It was replaced with the Loupe Lounge, a
cocktail lounge that opened in the restaurant's former space on April 9, 2021.[16]
^Beckley, Barbara (2002).
Hispanic Business. Hispanic Business Publications.
Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2017.