Philadelphia--Nearly one month after Comcast announced plans for the 59-story Innovation and Technology Center, the mass media and communications giant, along with architects at Foster + Partners, revealed one final detail to the impressive project: a dramatic, 425-foot "skywalk." The cable-supported "bridge in the sky" will connect the new tower to the original, 58-floor Comcast Center at the 47th floor. The open-air walkway will be accessible year-round, providing employees and tourists with breathtaking, inimitable views of the city and beyond. Some predict it could become one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. The steel skyscraper connection will allow executives, primarily located in the Comcast Center to the east, to "pop-in" on the "techies and app guys," and provide easy access to the new hotel. "Though the top floors of the new building will be a hotel, the bridge will reduce the effort to go from, say, the 50th floor in the Comcast Center to the 37th floor in the Innovation Center," said Jane Filmore, an engineer with Thom+Jimz Engineering. "You know, going all the way down to the lobby, walking to the other lobby, and going up again could get to be a total drag." Comcast chose to exclude the "skyway" element from the January tower announcement due to unfinished negotiations with the Arch Street Presbyterian Church for air rights.
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