Details of the New Observation Tower at Liberty One – Press Conference with the Principles, views, cafe news and more

December 17, 2014 by HughE Dillon

Tourism officials from various organizations throughout the
City were on hand yesterday as Mayor Nutter and global tourism operator
Montparnasse 56 announced the newest tourist attraction for Center City
Philadelphia yesterday at a press conference in Conversation Hall in City Hall:
Philadelphia’s first large-scale observation deck at One Liberty Place,

scheduled
to open in Summer of 2015. Montparnasse 56 (or M56) is a Parisian-based company
that operates observation decks in the John Hancock Tower in Chicago (Chicago
360), The Pierrelatte Crocodile Park (Rhone Valley, France), Fernsehturm /
Berlin TV Tower (Berlin, Germany) and the Montparnasse 56 Tower in Paris — will
be building the observation deck on the 57th floor of One Liberty Place in
downtown Philadelphia. (One Liberty stands 61 stories.)

Stewart Brown, GM, One Liberty Place and The Shops at Liberty Place, Thomas M. Dempsey, Senior VP at METROPOLIS Investment Holdings Inc. and Jill Scarlett, Retail Shops Manager, Shops at Liberty Place, where the gift shop and ticket booth will be located.

Alex DuFrayne, PHLCVB, Christina Cassidy, PHLCVB, and Megan Ungar, PHLCVB. (one the subject of new, the girls are excited to move into their new offices next week at 16th and Market
Streets)

Opening in summer
2015, the unnamed observation project is underway and they are hard at work
designing a truly unique and beautiful new way for visitors and locals to view
Philadelphia. What should we call it? (CakeCinema photo)

Mark Ladley, En Route, Bill Gehrman, Founder & President En Route, Laura Burkhardt, Where Magazine, Sam Agoos, En Route, James Zeleniak, Punch Media and Will Andrew.

Brûlée Catering by Chef Jean-Marie Lacroix and Liz Difrancesco, Brûlée Catering catered the press conference, and are a contender for the potential cafe at the new observation deck.

Paul R. Levy President and CEO of Center City District, and Jack Ferguson, PHLCVB President + CEO.

Diane McGraw, ‎Executive Director of PA Travel, Tourism and Film and Meryl Levitz, CEO of Visit Philly

Evan Evans, GM of Montparnasse 56 Philadelphia greets the guests as Patrick Abisseror, CEO of Montparnasse 56 and Eric Deutsch, VP Montparnasse 56 USA look on. (Evan told me that he’s excited in his new position, you’ll recall he opened Le Meridien hotel on Arch Street, and before that was associated with the Bellevue as well as working with the Starr organization. Congrats to him.)

Patrick Abisseror, CEO of Montparnasse 56 flew in from Paris to attend the press conference. He’s watched the growth of Philadelphia, with it’s many possibilities. His observation towers have been the number one tourist destinations in each city they are located and know that the same will hold true in Philadelphia.

Currently Philadelphia has one tourist observation deck at the
top of City Hall (40 stories, which will remain opened as well, go to Room 121 for
tickets & a tour of the building), but with the expanding
skyline another one at Liberty One will give a more expansive view of
the City,
as well as will be open later in the evening as well as on weekends
(City Hall closes at 4:30PM and is not opened on the weekend or
holidays.)

Although no price was mentioned yesterday, at Chicago 360, general admission prices ranged from youth $12 (3 yrs old to 11
yrs old) to adults (12yrs+) $18.

Mayor Nutter reads the proclamation in honor of the new observation tower as Patrick Abisseror, CEO of Montparnasse 56 and Eric Deutsch, VP Montparnasse 56 USA look on.

There are plans for a café at the Philadelphia
location, but won’t be in place until after the opening of the observation
center (which should be opened in time for the Pope’s mass on the Parkway.) Look for champagne nights, and Wine nights with the sunset and small bites. This will be as much of a Philadelphia destination as it is for tourists.
PS And rumor has it that a new restaurant will open in the next year (2016) on the 58th floor.