“The tower, standing at the foot of Toronto, is truly a model of achievement for the province of Ontario. It represents the potential of a young and vibrant province. The structure should not be regarded in terms of what it costs, for it is more significant as a symbol of technology and progress. The tower has undoubtedly made Toronto and even more impressive and recognized city, not only in Canada, but also on the international scene. Paris has its Eiffel Tower; New York its Empire State Building…they all must yield supremacy to the pride of Ontario, the CN Tower.”
That short essay, written by 13-year-old Khameraj Gopaul and placed in the CN Tower’s time capsule, captures the feelings which surrounded the landmark when it opened to the public on June 26, 1976.
It had survived a lot over its three-year, $57 million construction period, including: the abandonment of the Metro Centre redevelopment project it was to be part of; workers who were fired for making stunt parachute jumps; eccentrics who placed posters warning where the tower could crash down; endless jokes about its phallic appearance; and questions about whether its increased signals would block out reception of television stations from Buffalo.
Management rejected some of the wilder suggestions to spice up the visitor experience. York University professor Daniel Cappon insisted that the elevators should simulate a rocket’s roar as it shot upward and that a slide should circle around the tower. “Every city should have something with a principle of danger about it that comes to self-injury or risk of life,” he noted. As the opening neared, Cappon unhelpfully wrote an article for Toronto Life profiling the type of people who would be the first to either hijack the tower or commit suicide off it (the latter a near impossibility due to its safety measures).
Scientists, the media, and CN officials continually reassured the public as the tower’s opening approached that, owing to its sturdy construction, it wouldn’t fall over. The public was also told that the tower couldn’t catch fire, thanks to its fireproof concrete, insulated transformers, extensive sprinkler system, and a 30,000-gallon reservoir — a concern brought about by the success of the disaster movie The Towering Inferno, released in 1974.
Photo of the cast of A Chorus Line dancing atop the tower. (Toronto Star, June 4, 1976)
Though the rotating Top of Toronto restaurant wasn’t scheduled to open until early July, it was a hot ticket when its computerized reservation line opened on May 20, 1976. Over the first two hours, over 500 calls were received for those eager to eat there. A month later, over 6,000 reservations stretched deep into the fall. Tourists who didn’t make advanced plans wouldn’t be out of luck, as at least nine spaces would be set aside every night for walk-ins.
The first major test of the tower came on June 1, when its transmitter went into service. The initial broadcasting lineup included five FM radio stations and five TV stations. It was hoped the tower’s transmitter would improve the increasingly poor reception from traditional transmitters within Metro Toronto, which had deteriorated due to the high-rise construction boom.
Television stations and the CRTC braced themselves for an avalanche of complaints, based on months of warnings that the new stronger signals would interfere with Buffalo stations. While there were some problems, CBC officials noted there were more complaints when CBLT switched channels a few years earlier. When he didn’t experience any problems with WKBW in his North Toronto home, Toronto Sun television critic Bob Blackburn joked that he almost felt disappointed.
The only true hiccup occurred shortly before launch, when CBC experienced a brief technical glitch that was quickly fixed.
Outside the city, especially in areas like Muskoka and Niagara, people embraced the new powerful signals. Upon discovering Radio-Canada, Alice Pietz, the wife of Welland’s mayor, told the Toronto Star that while she didn’t understand the language, “now I’ll have to learn it.”
Along with CITY (which for many viewers outside Toronto was a station they could only read about), TVOntario was one of the main beneficiaries. It picked up new viewers in western New York, which was helped by the Buffalo News’s decision to include channel 19 in its daily television listings. Soon after it began transmitting from the CN Tower, TVOntario’s reach extended further that summer with the launch of stations in Chatham and Windsor.
As the transmitter went into service, a $200,000 ad campaign launched, focusing on Toronto. “Everybody knows there’s a CN Tower, but nobody knows what’s in it,” a MacLaren Advertising representative told the Globe and Mail. Seven 60-second radio ads were prepared, with a song composed by Hagood Hardy called “As Far As I Can See.” There were also publicity stunts such as having the cast of the Royal Alexandra Theatre’s production of A Chorus Line perform a number on the outdoor observation deck.
Among the most popular tie-in products was a tower-shaped bottle of whiskey produced by McGuinness Distillers. Developed over a period of 15 months, it flew off the LCBO’s shelves.
For those with religious concerns about the impact of the tower, Reverand Joseph Thachen-Carey delivered a sermon at a Roman Catholic church in Scarborough where he declared that unlike the Tower of Babel (which was supposed to stretch to Heaven), the CN Tower’s goal was to improve communication instead of muddling it.
Cartoon by Ted Martin making fun of CITY-TV's increased signal. Toronto Sun, June 3, 1976.
But there was still opposition. A Seneca College journalism instructor hired a University of Toronto student to study the scientific literature on the amount of radiation emitted by broadcasting transmitters, fearing that it would harm the public. When the data didn’t prove his fears, he abandoned pursuing a class action lawsuit. A study was conducted by federal and provincial scientists to determine the possible effects of electromagnetic radiation from the tower by taking readings there and in several downtown locations. The study determined everything was within a safe limit, well below federal guidelines.
Over 150,000 invitations were sent out (including to CN executives and employees, civil servants, members of the hospitality industry, media, and assorted contest winners) to tour the tower before it officially opened. When cab drivers were invited, Metro Toronto Police issued numerous tickets when they illegally parked their vehicles.
Pieces on the tower appeared in newspapers across the country. “Those who want to believe that Toronto has outgrown the narrow, self-satisfied Hogtown of the past to become a cosmopolitan, world-class city wince at the mention of the tower,” the Ottawa Citizen observed on the eve of its opening. “But those who like nice solid evidence that Toronto is the business capital and the real power centre of the country love it.” The Montreal Star observed that CN officials seemed taken aback by how quickly Torontonians embraced the project.
Toronto Star, July 3, 1976
One of the most critical pieces was written by architect/Toronto city councillor Colin Vaughan for the Globe and Mail, who felt one never got a true sense of the tower’s awesome size. His sense of disappointment began at the entrance bridge across the railway tracks, which he felt offered “no sensation of arriving at the base of a tall structure to be overwhelmed by the vision of the tower ahead.” He found the elevators too cautious in their execution. He compared the décor of the observation decks to downtown office buildings, while the restaurant was “CN Club Car in the Sky.” He felt the space was too cramped and deserved higher ceilings or a stronger design to allow more flexibility in how people could look out of the decks. “None will experience the unique sensation, the vertigo and the straight excitement which should accompany a visit to a structure of this scale.”
In response, project architect Edward Baldin believed Vaughan came ready to bash the tower and neglected to mention that some aspects he didn’t like, such as the entrance bridge, were in place for the abandoned Metro Centre project. He also noted the deck spaces were designed to hold down wind drag and calm nervous visitors.
On the other hand, the Toronto Sun praised the tower, especially the highest observation area, the Space Deck, which it compared to the highest level of the Eiffel Tower. “The feeling is one of being a part of the great height, not merely observing it.”
A diagram of the CN Tower pod, from the June 26, 1976 edition of the Buffalo News.
Over 2,000 people attended the opening ceremony at the Sky Pod (the outdoor observation deck) on June 26, enjoying champagne and fireworks. Just after midnight, the tower was bathed in light after a button was pushed by federal finance minister Donald Macdonald, who, at 6’5”, was the tallest cabinet member. He was joined by the winners of a contest to find the tallest man and woman in the Toronto area.
Initial adult admission rates were $2 to ride to the main observation deck and the restaurant and $2.75 for the Sky Pod. For an extra dollar, you could ride up to the Space Deck, which only held 60 people at a time. On the main observation deck, visitors could browse stores, use a post office, and check out two mini-theatres which featured a seven-minute film and slide presentation.
Officials were pleased to report that nobody got sick riding the elevator during the opening weekend, which drew around 20,000 visitors. The outdoor observation deck was closed when a thunderstorm hit. A hostess was knocked over by the wind, while two of the four elevators were halted when they began leaking water. A CN official noted that visitors experienced “a panoramic view of a thunderstorm, approaching, passing over, and leaving Toronto” that included spectacular lightning. Those who viewed the storm in the observation decks were thrilled or terrified.
When the Top of Toronto restaurant opened on July 10, food critics had mixed feelings. Joanne Kates of the Globe and Mail noted that visitors expected “fear” along the lines of a roller coaster ride. “We also want space age technology. On a continent where the first flight to the moon is already overbooked, we obviously crave future shock.” She felt the tower in general only teased its guests in this respect.
“The restaurant feels about as space age as a golf club lounge.”
Kates was most impressed with the washrooms, which she described as “a futuristic medley of marble and chrome, very beautiful and very modern, mirrored and freaky.”
The official dedication ceremony was not held until October 1. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau sealed a time capsule in a wall at the broadcasting level which was not to be opened until 2076. It held messages from all the provincial premiers, newspapers, old train tickets, menus, promotional materials, the names of the construction workers who built the tower, construction film footage, microfilm of the architectural designs, and other mementos. Certain items were not allowed — for example, Metro Toronto chairman Paul Godfrey wanted to include a Blue Jays jersey as the team was about to play its first season but had to settle for writing a letter outlining the relationship between Metro and the City of Toronto.
A key component of the time capsule were essays and poems written by five Metro Toronto elementary school students, who read them at the ceremony. These were chosen from over 200 submissions.
Perhaps the one which drew the most attention was written in symbolic language by 12-year-old Greg Gittings, who had cerebral palsy. He summed up what he enjoyed about Toronto, a city for which the tower would, going forward, become a symbolic representation of.
“Toronto to me is happy, fun, old men, teenagers, very tall buildings, good restaurants, transportation, teenager fights, Maple Leaf Gardens, and hospitals.”
Sources: the June 20, 1976 and July 10, 1976 editions of the Buffalo News; the June 24, 1976 edition of the Etobicoke Gazette; the May 1, 1976, June 1, 1976, June 11, 1976, June 16, 1976, June 26, 1976, June 28, 1976, June 29, 1976, June 30, 1976, July 12, 1976, and October 2, 1976 editions of the Globe and Mail; the June 9, 1976 edition of the Montreal Star; the June 25, 1976 edition of the Ottawa Citizen; the May 4, 1976, May 20, 1976, June 1, 1976, June 7. 1976, June 8, 1976, June 24, 1976, June 25, 1976, June 26, 1976, June 28, 1976, and October 1, 1976 editions of the Toronto Star; and the June 1, 1976 and June 27, 1976 editions of the Toronto Sun.