Sky Tower Leads NZ Into Darkness For Earth Hour

MEDIA RELEASE
March 2010

Sky Tower Leads New Zealand Into Darkness For Earth Hour 2010

Auckland’s Sky Tower will help lead the world into darkness on Saturday 27 March as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) again celebrates Earth Hour, championing sustainable development and a dedication to low-carbon practices.

For the first time this year, SKYCITY will use the Sky Tower to urge communities and businesses across New Zealand to support the initiative by switching off the top of the tower for incrementally longer periods each day in the week leading up to the main event.

“As New Zealand’s most iconic landmark, the Sky Tower, turns off its lights at 8.30pm local time on 27 March, we are in good company with the likes of the London Eye, Eiffel Tower, Table Mountain in Cape Town, Grand Palace in Bangkok and the world’s second tallest building, Tapei 101 also switching off. Even the lights of Las Vegas will power down for the hour. And of course the millions of followers worldwide this event now has.

“We are also delighted to lead the charge in the week prior to the main event by switching off our Tower lights for short periods between 8.30pm and 9.30pm to encourage particularly businesses to join us on 27 March in showing support for the environment.

“SKYCITY is leading a number of significant energy efficiently projects such as a wind turbine up the tower, trialling how businesses can use wind generated electricity. We have also recently installed solar panels on the roof of the SKYCITY Hotel, generating power for our complex,” says Simon Jamieson, General Manager SKYCITY Hotels Group Auckland.

The top section of the Sky Tower is now lit with LED lighting which last year replaced the less environmentally friendly system. These LED lights will signal the start and end of the hour with a light show at 8.25 and 9.30 in Earth Hour colours of green and blue.

“We’re planning a spectacular light display to mark the start and end of Earth Hour, which we won’t publicize before the night – so Aucklanders should get to a good vantage point to enjoy the show,” says Mr Jamieson.

Diners at SKYCITY’s restaurants, dine by Peter Gordon, Bellota, Orbit and Observatory will dine by candlelight to mark the occasion.

SKYCITY is the home of entertainment in Auckland offering visitors the choice of two hotels, a casino, dining options, the SKYCITY Theatre, cinemas, East Day Spa and of course the world famous Sky Jump and Sky Walk right in the heart of the city.

About Earth Hour
Earth Hour is a global WWF climate change initiative. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 8:30 PM to show their support for action on climate change. The event began in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people switched off their lights. In 2008, more than 50 million people around the globe participated. In 2009, participation swelled to hundreds of millions as 4189 cities, towns and municipalities in 88 countries and many of the world’s best known landmarks participated.

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