Space Needle record holder says daily trips ‘saved my life’

Timothy Clemans knows just about everyone at the Space Needle.

"Hi, Solomon," he said to a ticket-taker stationed near the elevator.

He greeted the operator as the doors slid shut: "Hey, Josh. How are you?"

Another day, another elevator ride.

Clemans, a Burien resident, has been coming to the Space Needle daily since February. He's racked up more than 100 visits -- 106 as of Monday evening. That makes Clemans the record holder for most consecutive visits to the Seattle landmark. Granted, the record didn't officially exist before Clemans started showing up every morning.

But Space Needle staff will tell you: It exists now. (One staffer recalls a 60-day streak by another patron, but it's not documented.)

"My game plan is to be here every day when it opens," Clemans said late last week as he prepared to ascend 520 feet to the observation deck.

Once there, he made his rounds. If he saw a tourist with a camera, he offered to take a photo for them. If someone spotted his "record holder" jacket and stopped to chat, he answered questions.

The most common question? "Why are you doing this?" That's a complicated question for Clemans. He says his daily ritual helps ease his mind. The 20-year-old struggles with depression. Goals, he explained, give him a sense of stability and purpose.

And since he started coming to the Space Needle every day, he feels better.

"This is a very special place for me," he said.

Before he started working an afternoon job, he'd spend long hours at the Space Needle, usually reading or working on his computer.

"I tell people it's the best office in town," he said.

He opened his backpack to reveal what he brings on his daily trip to the top of the city. There's lunch, a toothbrush and toothpaste and a few books -- including Bill Hybels' "Who You Are When No One's Looking."

Building character has been a theme of his daily Space Needle visits.

"I think it's really a starting point," he said.

Shyness has always been a problem for Clemans: "And now I talk to people from all over the world."

Space Needle staffers are used to seeing him every day -- and senior operations manager Steve Bragalone said he gets why Clemans keeps  coming.

"I think it's fantastic for everyone to set a goal for himself," he said.

That goal is a lot higher than you might think. Ultimately, Clemans wants to visit the world's best observation towers.

First, he plans on making an appearance at the Space Needle every day for five years -- that's 1,825 days, by his count.