Today’s guest columnist is Vance Wesson.

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Seattle has the Space Needle… Dallas–the Reunion Tower.

Visit the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio or the Calgary Tower in Alberta Canada.

Wow! What an experience!

But all of them, including the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas, and the Skylon Tower in Niagara Falls are similar in design.

Introducing–an idea totally unique to Birmingham–the Birmingham DNA Helix Tower.

Think about it for a minute.

Vulcan represents Birmingham’s industrial past–the DNA Helix Tower–Birmingham’s future.

There’s no question Birmingham is a world class leader in medical research. Tourists passing down the freeway would never know the creative, mental powers pulsating inside the bricks and glass.

The DNA Tower would be a tasteful, colorful signal to the passing travelers that there’s a lot more to this city than anyone would have ever imagined.

Surely visitors would love to buy a ticket and ride the glass-enclosed elevator to the top of the tower and take in magnificent vistas in the daytime and an unbelievable, dazzling display close-up and miles away at night.

They could dine at a world-class restaurant slowly revolving at the top. After all, Birmingham is becoming a foodie attraction.

All the while the latest and most nuanced breakthrough’s flicker in writing across two screens at street level. Through the spirals, arcs and rods of the tower colors pulsate in areas on the two as it takes on anthropomorphic, abstract quality.

DNA Tower quick thoughts:

Height of tower: 600 to 700 ft. (Space Needle in Seattle is 605 ft., Gateway Arch in St. Louis 630 ft.)

Open-spaced tower, not enclosed in glass

At the very top a glass-enclosed viewing area

Slow revolving restaurant at the top (in the manner of the Renaissance Tower in Florence, AL

At the base, two large screens reporting medical breakthroughs all over the world, one screen written in the esoteric jargon of the researchers and a second screen written in down-to-earth form for the tourist and the rest of us.

The width: to be determined by aesthetic judgment with reasonable wideness to contain the circular restaurant and sightseeing circle. (The Space Needle saucer is 138 ft. wide). Artistically it would seem to be near the width of the Regions Tower or the Wells Fargo skyscraper downtown.

The tower could, for instance, have special color lighting one-fifth of the way down signaling some breakthrough in neck and shoulder research. This information from as far away as Tokyo or London would show the great international efforts that are taking place in unison with the incredible work done in Birmingham.

These discovery configurations in many forms could manifest themselves along the tower structure as best as possible limited to the spirals, arcs and rods offered by the tower itself and not forgetting color. I am not a scientist! So maybe the science guys can come together on some simple signaling and color to match the clarity of the screens at street level.

The DNA Tower could be located anywhere around UAB or downtown deemed aesthetically attractive.

Vance Wesson grew up in the Florence area, but has lived in Birmingham for 40 years. He has a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Mississippi. He’s currently a Library Assistant at Samford University Law Library and a practicing artist.

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David Sher is Co-Founder of AmSher Compassionate Collections. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@amsher.com.

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