Spinnaker Tower celebrates ten year anniversary

The operations manager for the tower said it was now what people thought of when they thought about Portsmouth

Originally meant to open to mark the millennium, the Emirates Spinnaker Tower, as it is now known, opened five years later in October 2005.

It had been dogged by political disputes, delays and ended up costing the taxpayer £11.1m when the public had originally been told it would cost them nothing.

In the 10 years since the 170m (557ft) tower opened there has been a long-running fiasco over a glass lift which never worked, public outcry over a drastic paint job for sponsorship money and a centenarian who loves abseiling down the side of it.

But three million people have scaled the landmark and enjoyed the views of Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight, the Solent and the Hampshire countryside.

The design for the tower had been selected out of three possible structures by the people of Portsmouth

The Emirates Spinnaker Tower has become a well-known landmark and attracts visitors to Portsmouth

The total cost of the tower was £35.6m and it is run by Heritage Projects Ltd, which is part of the Continuum Attractions group.

It is still owned by Portsmouth City Council, which said the attraction has earned the council £4m in ten years.

Simon Wildgust, operations manager, said: "If you had asked ten years ago it would have been The Victory that was at the forethought of people's mind when you talk about Portsmouth, but now it is the Spinnaker."

Doris Long said she hopes to repeat the challenge next year aged 102

Timeline

September 1995: Building of the Spinnaker Tower is approved by the Millennium Commission.

February 1998: The Spinnaker Tower gets nearly 60% of the public vote in a contest between three possible designs for the tower.

September 1999: Conditional planning permission is granted by Portsmouth City Council.

November 2001: Work starts on the foundations of the tower.

March 2004: Leo Madden, Labour leader of Portsmouth City Council when the decision to build the tower was made, resigns over controversy surrounding the costs of the tower.

March 2004: A report criticises Mr Madden for putting the Labour Party's interests first and said the director of corporate services failed to protect the council's interests.

December 2004: A father's rights campaigner scaled 18m (60ft) up the tower and climbed back down again after unveiling a banner.

October 2005: The tower opens five years late and costing the taxpayer an extra £11.1m, after it was supposed to cost the public nothing. The city council's project manager gets stuck in the exterior lift 30m (98ft) off the ground at the opening ceremony.

September 2007: The 1,000,000th visitor goes up the tower

September 2012: The external glass lift is removed. It hadn't worked since the tower opened in 2005.

May 2014: Doris Long, aka Daring Doris and world record holder for the oldest person to abseil, marks her 100th birthday by gliding down the side of the tower.

June 2015: Portsmouth City Council announces the tower is to be rebranded with the name of the sponsor Emirates and is to be painted red. It is a five year deal which the council said is worth £3.5m.

June 2015: After public outcry the colour scheme is changed to blue and gold.

July 2015: Doris improves on her world record by abseiling the tower on her 101st birthday.

July 2015: The tower is painted and renamed in time for the America's Cup sailing event in the city.

The local authority had planned to paint the tower red as part of the £3.5m deal with Emirates, but the original scheme was changed

In the end, the council and Emirates agreed on a blue and gold design

Visitors have a view of the surrounding area and the Isle of Wight from one of the viewing decks in the tower