Dallas' iconic Reunion Tower feels like it's been part of the city skyline forever. But that lanky, light-up fixture has a birthday coming up.
And there's nothing like a birthday to remind us just exactly how much time has passed.
So feel free to offer a hearty "happy birthday" to The Ball, 40 years old on Sunday, April 15. Rather than blow out the candles, Reunion Tower is lighting up with lights-out parties on April 13, 14 and 15. And then there's another lights show on April 20. Because when you're 40, you get the whole month.
Reunion Tower has always been a talked-about icon in Dallas, especially on Opening Day on April 15, 1978, when the doors unexpectedly opened 35 minutes early, much to the surprise of the hundreds of people waiting to get in. What's more, our 1978 Dallas Morning News story shows that police tended to 13 car accidents that day, the result of drivers craning their necks to gawk at the skyline's new addition.
In an April 23, 1978 article, DMN art critic Janet Kutner recounted that The Ball "dropped instant razzle-dazzle into Dallas."
Today, the skyline wouldn't feel the same without it. What Kutner said in 1978 is still true 40 years later: "The monumentality of the project dwarfs most individual structures in downtown and makes an aggressive and fairly successful attempt at outshining the entire skyline."
Our architecture critic Mark Lamster says "Nothing quite says 'Dallas' like the Reunion complex. Although it's not fashionable critically, I'm a big fan of the mirrored Hyatt, which is a dazzling skyline unto itself."
And for anyone who didn't know Dallas back in the late '70s and '80s, Dallas fixed that.
The iconic opening credits to the TV show Dallas, which premiered April 2, 1978, did show Reunion Tower, fixating mostly on its base since it was not properly finished until after the first episode aired. Over the years, the opening credits changed and the tall ball made more appearances, including many close-ups in the 2012 reboot (which also showed a much more recent Dallas addition, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge).
Check out 10 fun facts about Reunion Tower if you're into its history.
The new structure signified promise, as that area was once the site of "tired rail yards," says Alan Peppard, longtime Dallas Morning News reporter. "When we saw that space-age looking thing start to rise," he remembers, "it became a focal point."
Over the years, Reunion Tower's attached Hyatt Recency has gotten a face-lift and The Ball has been outfitted with LED lights.
In 2017, Reunion Tower was the site of more than 700 engagements, making it one of the most statistically romantic spots in Dallas. (Which isn't all that romantic if we say it that way, but you get the idea.) From its GeO-Deck 470 feet up, you can gaze out at Dallas -- or even rappel off the side of it during infrequent, special events.
The Ball's 40th birthday parties include an appearance from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders on the GeO-Deck on Saturday, April 14 from 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Its GeO-Deck and the Wolfgang Puck restaurant Five Sixty are open all weekend, as usual, and expect heightened crowds. If you go up into the GeO-Deck, which costs $8 to $17, attendees whose birthdays are in April get a 20 percent discount, in honor of Reunion's 40th.
Expect some moments of majesty this weekend as The Ball hosts all-night lights shows. Friday and Saturday, April 13 and 14, starting at 8:05 p.m., the ball will light up with cupcakes and floating balloons. If you're more of a morning person, the shows continue until the sun comes up.
At 9 p.m. on Sunday, April 15, The Ball will glow as it first did on April 15, 1978. It begins with a "warm white" lights show, the color that incandescent bulbs give off, says Katie Chaumont, director of communications for Reunion Tower. But then, the re-created 1978 show brightens to a sharper white, "just another example of the tower evolving," Chaumont explains.
If you're not within eyeshot, don't do as the Dallasites did in 1978 and stop traffic. Watch live on Facebook instead. Ah: A lot has changed in 40 years, hasn't it?
Keep an eye on Reunion Tower on Friday, April 20, when it will debut a a never-before-seen lights show with geometric designs, waves, stripes and lots of color. Each of the 259 lights on Reunion Tower has a node with 32 light engines inside. The combination of colors is in the millions, Chaumont says, and the April 20 lights show will "push the boundaries." But she wouldn't say much more.
"I hope that people really love it," she says. And later: "They won't have ever seen The Ball do something like that."
The new show will become the permanent Friday and Saturday night light-up, interrupted only by sports-team wins or other special events.
See our favorite Reunion Tower photos through the years
