Emirates Spinnaker Tower It also features on ITV News. In June 2009, the tower's operators succeeded in gaining permission for a freefall ride to be attached. As of 2015 this remains only a plan. In 2006, the tower won the RICS Project of the Year award and the RICS Regeneration award. In May 2015, as part of a wider effort to "generate additional revenue by using the advertising potential of council-owned land and other assets", Portsmouth City Council proposed selling the tower's naming rights to a commercial sponsor. The proposed sponsorship deal would include the naming rights for the tower for at least
Emirates Spinnaker Tower despite only the internal lift working, with more than 600,000 people visiting it in the first year. It is one of a number of observation towers around the world that have become popular, including Vancouver's Harbour Centre, Toronto's CN Tower, Blackpool's Tower, New York City's One World Trade Center (as well as the original Twin Towers) and Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower. In June 2006, the local press raised a concern that the tower might be forced to close. All public buildings in the UK require disabled access under the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act. With the external lift inoperative and only