Space Needle Joins Act

The Seattle Space Needle is getting into the spirit of the Mariners’ A.L. championship bid.

The landmark 610-foot relic of the 1962 World’s Fair will be decorated Thursday with a Mariners logo and two cheers - “Go M’s” and “Refuse to Lose” - and topped with a giant baseball, said spokeswoman Lynn Blackpool.

How long will the decorations stay up?

“Until we win the World Series,” Brackpool said, without hesitation.

The words will be painted on the south side of the sloping Space Needle roof, facing the Kingdome at the other end of downtown, by Omega Graphics, she said. An inflatable baseball - 15 to 20 feet wide - will be perched on the outer edge of the observation deck at the 520-foot level, just above the spaceshiplike restaurant at the top of the Needle.

“We caught Mariners fever,” Blackpool said. “We’re on a wonderful streak right now with the M’s and we just wanted to show our support for the team and for the city.”

The ball will be big enough to see from the Kingdome, but people on the ground will only be able to see parts of the painted logo and cheers, she said.

The cost to the private Space Needle Corp. was not disclosed, but Brackpool said the “minimal” amount didn’t include any public funds.