Design
Meet Seattle's 'Baby London Eye'
The city's newest attraction hopes to lure tourists to its waterfront despite a massive construction project nearby.
Seattle's newest attraction, a Ferris wheel known as the "Great Wheel," officially debuted last Friday.
While it might not overtake the Space Needle in popularity, it will provide an attraction for a neighborhood that is experiencing disruptions in the way of a new, $3.1 billion tunnel scheduled to open in 2016. That tunnel is being built to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. In the meantime, officials hope having a tourist anchor for the area will help ease the inevitable loss of traffic and business from the construction. As a result, a $20 million, privately-funded Ferris wheel can now be found along Pier 57.