St Johns Beacon (also known as the Radio City Tower) is a Grade II listed

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

and observation tower in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. Designed by James A. Roberts Associates, it was built in 1969 and opened by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. The tower is tall, and is the second-tallest free-standing structure in Liverpool. It has a long antenna on the roof, making it the tallest structure in Liverpool when antennas are included. As testament to the importance of its design, which was described by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

as "embodying the technological bravura and spirit of the space age", the building was listed at Grade II in November 2020. The building housed the studios and offices of local commercial radio station Radio City (now known as

Hits Radio Hits Radio is a network of 26 contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. The network launched in 2018 with the rebranding of Bauer's Manchester station Key 103 and its merger with The Hi ...

Liverpool) alongside its sister station,

Greatest Hits Radio Greatest Hits Radio (GHR) is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. It currently includes 18 local and regional radio stations operating over 50 FM and DAB licences in England, Scotl ...

, from 2000 to 2024.

Early history

At the top of the tower was a luxury five-star

revolving restaurant A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is a tower restaurant designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving wikt:platform, platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on the rev ...

, the façade and floor of the restaurant revolving as one unit, while the roof was used as an observation platform for visitors. There are 558 stairs up to the top, and two lift shafts with lifts reaching the top in 30 seconds. The tower is structurally independent of the adjacent shopping centre, with a simple foundation onto sandstone. The foundation is in diameter, deep and begins below Houghton Street. It has a tapering shaft that was built using slip-formed concrete. The

crow's nest A crow's nest is a structure in the upper part of the main mast of a ship or a structure that is used as a lookout point. On ships, this position ensured the widest field of view for lookouts to spot approaching hazards, other ships, or land b ...

structure at the top was added after the shaft was formed. The original restaurant closed in 1979 for health and safety issues. It was re-opened, with a reduced capacity and additional fire prevention measures, during the early 1980s. The restaurant was eventually re-fitted as a

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily American newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, b ...

space-themed restaurant in 1983, but closed again for lack of business. After this, the observation deck and the restaurant remained closed. In the following years, the tower lay empty and derelict. Often considered to be an eyesore or a

white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, ...

by fellow Liverpudlians, blue "UFO style" neon strip lights were added to the perimeter of the tower in 1994 in an attempt to increase its attractiveness. These were later removed upon the refurbishment of the tower. In late 1998, Radio City, owned and operated by the then

Emap Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of Bauer Media Group owning brands; Absolute Radio, Greatest Hits Radio, Jazz FM, Hits Radio, KISS, Planet Rock, Magic, Kerrang! Radio and Heat Radio. History In early 2008, German ma ...

, expressed interest in refurbishing the tower to house Radio City and Magic 1548, including their studios and required office space. Work commenced in 1999 and was completed in the summer of 2000.

Later history

The tower was refurbished between 1999 and 2000 at a cost of £5 million. It reopened as

Radio City 96.7 Hits Radio Liverpool, formerly Radio City, is an Independent Local Radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Radio, Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Merseyside, Cheshire and parts of north Wales. As of ...

(and Magic 1548) in August 2000. The outdoor observation deck, which had been located on the roof of the restaurant, was transformed into a second floor, holding the offices for the radio station. The studios were on the lower floor, which was previously the restaurant. The original revolving structure and machinery were left intact during the refurbishment. Brackets were added to lock the moving structure in place. The tower has been known to sway in heavy winds. This is a design feature and common in construction within skyscrapers and tall buildings in order to prevent structural damage from wind pressure. During the refurbishment between the first and second floors, the ''Radio City 96.7'' lettering was added. Until 17 April 2024 it was illuminated in yellow at night. Following the rebranding of Radio City as Hits Radio, the signage is no longer illuminated. Lights were added under the base of the crow's nest structure, which are illuminated all day and periodically change colour. The second floor windows are sometimes illuminated at night, often with a particular colour to mark certain events. The refurbishment added an advertising framework at the top of the tower, designed for both a fabric banner and illuminated light boxes. Window cleaning and exterior maintenance is performed by specialist teams, who abseil down the side of the tower from the roof. The roof houses the local 10C

Digital Audio Broadcasting Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio international standard, standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services in many countries around the world, defined, supported, marketed and promoted by the WorldDAB organisation. T ...

multiplex for Liverpool. Hits Radio Liverpool and Greatest Hits Radio do not directly broadcast from the roof. Their FM signal is transmitted by the Allerton Park Transmitter, along with

BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside, North and West Cheshire and West Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, t ...

on 95.8FM. In 2017, the Liverpool-based tech startup Scan and Make organised the first edition of the art contest exhibition "Making Art 4.0" in the Radio offices. In 2018, an artwork banner was displayed on the beacon's advertisement framework. It was titled ''Liverpool 2018'', celebrating 10 years since the city's 2008 European Capital Of Culture events.

Radio City Talk Radio City Talk (previously City Talk 105.9) was an Independent Local Radio station in Liverpool, England. In May 2020, it was announced by Bauer that Radio City Talk would cease broadcasting, after concluding that the station was no longer fi ...

ceased broadcasting on 31 May 2020, after it was deemed not financially viable due to low listening figures. Until December 2024, the building housed the studios and offices for the regional programming of

Hits Radio Liverpool Hits Radio Liverpool, formerly Radio City, is an Independent Local Radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Radio, Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Merseyside, Cheshire and parts of north Wales. As of ...

and Hits Radio Lancashire, as well as the national weekday breakfast show for

. On 28 October 2024,

Bauer Media Heinrich Bauer Publishing (), trade name, trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, ...

announced that it would be vacating St Johns Beacon after 24 years, following a decision not to renew the lease. The final breakfast show to be broadcast from the building aired on 24 December 2024.

St Johns Beacon Viewing Gallery

In 2010, the building's first floor was opened full-time to members of the public upon paying an entrance fee. As of 2024, the fee was £8.00 for adults and £6.00 for children. Visitors could spend as long as they wish in the tower. The gallery gave the opportunity to view

from a 360° panoramic view, above the ground. The viewing gallery closed on 31 December 2024.

Failed zip wire proposal

In late June 2020, ZipWorldUK proposed plans for a permanent £5 million

zip wire A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide''Who Really Benefits from Tourism'', Publ. Equations, Karnataka, India, 2010. Working Papers Series. "Canopy Tourism"page 37/ref>Jacques Marais, Lisa De Speville, ''Adventure Racing'', ...

to be installed in Liverpool City Centre, which would have started from the second floor of the Beacon and end on the roof of the Central Library. The project attracted mixed public opinions, with many people claiming that it would be a permanent defacing of one of the city's world famous landmarks. Others expressed concerns that the noise of the zip wire could disturb library users. The plans went before

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...

, which on 30 June 2020 approved them; however, on 2 September 2020 it was reported that Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson was withdrawing permission for this use of the Central Library, effectively vetoing the proposal.

References

External links