Philadelphia's One Liberty Observation Deck now permanently closed

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The One Liberty Observation Deck in Philadelphia has announced it will be closed for good.

The attraction, which opened in November 2015, provided Philadelphia with panoramic bird's-eye views of the city from the 57th floor of One Liberty Place in Center City.

"That's news to me," said said Sean Price of Queen Village. "But that is a shame it has one of the best views of the city."

In 2020, One Liberty shared a message with guests on social media announcing its indefinite closure.

The post goes on to say "the drastic decrease of day-trippers, group tour bookings, and overseas tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic led us to this difficult decision."

For new visitors to the city, it's a view that can't be missed if you never experienced it to begin with.

Kelly Walker from Utah, a first-time visitor to the city is making good use of what is available to see.

"That's not good," Walker said of the closures. "I'm going to hit the Benjamin Franklin sites, the Mint, Betsy Ross' house."

Despite the closure, officials say conventions and trade shows have returned to the city.

"We haven't heard of any events that have gone away forever. If anything, our job has been to work with the client, work with the convention center to push those events in 2022 and beyond," said Gregg Caren, the president & CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Caren said they are now past the point of more cancellations than bookings and are up 70% year to date over 2019.

"That's the best story of the day," Caren said.