Seattle, Washington — 605 feet above the Emerald City, a Seattle family is making history at the Space Needle.
Jeff Wright was reliving boyhood memories with his teenage daughter, Maureen, by giving a Seattle icon a fresh coat of paint.
He said there’s this really cool thing, we’re going to paint it orange. I looked at him like he was crazy. Why on earth would you paint it orange said Maureen Wright.
When the Space Needle opened at the World’s Fair 50 years ago, the top was painted “Galaxy Gold.”
It turned out it was more orange than gold.
You know apparently there was a little controversy on what the color was and what it maybe was sold wasn’t what was shipped, said Jeff Wright.
Jeff Wright’s dad, Howard, was one of five people who built the Space Needle in the 1960s.
One of Jeffs fondest memories was when his dad took him to the top for the first time.
When I laid down on my stomach and I crawled out and looked over the edge, my dad hung onto my ankles, it’s a memory I will keep with me forever, he said.
Mauren never got to meet her grandfather.
He died six months before she was born.
Being up there and having that connection with him was so amazing. And to be able to know that he at one point was standing up there too, she said.
And way up at the top — the Wright family decided to have a little fun.
He says let’s get your shoes a little and before I know it, he’s rolling the roller right over the ends of my shoes, said Maureen.
You know those shoes were just too white. They were new shoes, we had to rough them up a little bit, said Jeff.
Perhaps this is the beginning of a new family tradition.
And hopefully for the 100th anniversary with my kids, I will paint their shoes orange, said Maureen.
The last time the Space Needle got painted Galaxy Gold was 2002 for the 40th anniversary.
It will stay this way until the end of the summer.
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