SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Sutro Tower, the iconic San Francisco television and radio tower, will be illuminated on the Fourth of July.
Twelve multi-colored lasers stationed at the base of Sutro Tower will create a “sea of lights” emanating from foggy Twin Peaks, organizers said. The installation, called “loveAbove,” was created by Illuminate.
The laser exhibit was designed to celebrate San Francisco and mark the 50th anniversary of Sutro Tower. The tower broadcast its first transmissions on July 4, 1973.
Lights will be visible throughout San Francisco between July 4-8, from sunset to midnight.
In the mid-1960s, local television stations conceived a project to improve reception throughout the Bay Area and build a tower taller than the 588-foot structure that previously stood on the site. Sutro Tower was designed to accommodate most of the stations in the Bay Area, standing 977 feet high and located southeast of San Francisco’s Mount Sutro, with its base at an elevation of 834 feet.
The highest antennas are 1,811 feet above sea level so that clear signals can be transmitted. Its three legs are embedded in 15 million pounds of cement, and its towers are made of 3.5 million pounds of steel.
Sutro Tower is operated by Sutro Tower, Inc., a company owned by television stations KTVU, KRON, KPIX, and KGO. The tower houses antennas for the stations and enables equal access for leased antenna space to other local TV stations, radio stations, public agencies, satellite companies, and other telecommunications clients.
KRON4 will be “lighting up” the Sutro Tower lights on Tuesday as part of our special July 4th Live fireworks show.
