The Sky Lobby at Houston's Chase Tower is now closed to the public

Readers' Photos Readers share their memories visiting the Sky Lobby in Houston's Chase Tower. Representatives with the tower announced Tuesday that the floor is now closed to the public. Readers' Photos Readers share their memories visiting the Sky Lobby in Houston's Chase Tower. Representatives with the tower announced Tuesday that the floor is now closed to the public. Photo: Author Cardenas Photo: Author Cardenas Image 1 of / 72 Caption Close The Sky Lobby at Houston's Chase Tower is now closed to the public 1 / 72 Back to Gallery

The 60th floor Sky Lobby at the Chase Tower in Downtown Houston has recently closed to the public, according to a representative.

For years the obscure attraction offered visitors views of the south side of downtown and points to the west of the city. The Chase Tower, at 600 Travis, is Houston's tallest building at 75 stories.

The two-story observation post was free to the public and open during normal business hours Monday through Friday.

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It was accessible via a bank of elevators inside the Chase Tower lobby. Riding up the 60 floors was an ear-popping event, but the view on a clear Texas day was worth it. On a clear day you could see for miles, or as far as Houston's haze would allow.

It was popular with working people in the neighboring buildings who were looking to get away from their desks for a few minutes. It would have been a fun lunch spot but visitors were not allowed to bring in food or beverages.

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Some Houstonians even got engaged up there, including a Chron.com colleague.

Back in 2013 the Sky Lobby was redesigned completely and closed for a number of months.

Property manager Hines released a statement on Tuesday about the closure, saying that the closure is permanent and was done in the interest of the building's tenants.

"After careful consideration, ownership and management of the JPMorgan Chase Tower (also known as 600 Travis) have made the difficult decision to restrict access to the building’s 60th floor “sky lobby” strictly to building tenants and their authorized visitors. Previously, this elevator transfer floor had served as a popular unofficial “observation point.”

“Our primary focus is to provide a quality experience for our tenants and their employees who were often inconvenienced by the extra non-business-related traffic in the building," a Hines spokesperson said in the statement.

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This puts the Sky Lobby on the list of observation spots that were previously open to the public but closed in recent years, including Wells Fargo Plaza, Williams Tower and the former Skyline Bar & Grill in the Hilton Americas-Houston.

The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, which has touted the Sky Lobby in the past as a Houston must-see, didn't have comment on the decision.