Don’t get us wrong -- we love the Space Needle. But it’s crowded, noisy, and expensive -- $13 for an adult ticket! Plus, the parking sucks, and it currently has that tacky “12” flag flying from its top. In short, it’s overrated.

Not so with the Volunteer Park water tower. Admission and ample parking are free, and its open-air observation deck -- roughly the same elevation as the Needle’s -- is just as scenic. It’s also generally quiet, save for the ambient hum of the city below.

An easy climb up one of its two 106-step stairways is rewarded with a killer 360-degree vista: the downtown skyline, ferries cruising across the sound toward the Olympics, the 520 stretching across the lake toward the Cascades, planes on their final approach to Sea-Tac... Closer in we see the park’s buildings and trees, beyond which are turn-of-the-century mansions and much of the rest of Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, the view is slightly obstructed by thick mesh wires covering its 16 arched windows, but it’s still definitely worth a visit.

The tower was built in 1906, three years after the Olmsteads were hired by the city to plan Seattle’s park system. Their design included a 95-foot, 883,000-gallon metal standpipe placed atop Capitol Hill’s highest point, providing water pressure for the hill’s residents. The Olmsteads also called for an observation deck to be built atop the standpipe, purely for the citizenry’s enjoyment.

A 20-foot-tall earthen mound was built around the standpipe’s base, on top of which was erected the 100-or-so-foot tower, acting as a shell/façade around the standpipe. The exterior of the cylindrical, four-tiered tower is made of jagged clinker brick, and it’s capped with a conical copper roof. The whole thing looks like a medieval fortress, save for the two opposing Roman temple-style entrances at its bottom (above each is written “AQUA PURA -- MCMVI”). In-between the exterior and standpipe is a pair of metal stairways, spiraling up to the o-deck like a double helix.

The tower, located in the traffic circle just inside the park’s south entrance, is usually open during daylight hours. It’s a great spot to bring out-of-town visitors, and also an ideal vantage point for residents to survey the changing seasons.

In this, its centennial year, let’s raise a glass -- ideally filled with Seattle tap water -- to the Volunteer Park water tower. Go Seahawks.