Chicago Weekend Fun!

Sunset driving on 90/94 from the south, a great way to enter the city and see the Sears Tower, Willis Tower

The city of Chicago is shocked and saddened right now by the news that the Sears Tower is going to be renamed the Willis Tower for the new company renting/leasing the major quantity of office space there. The Willis Group is from London and they plan on leasing 140,000 sq feet of space according to Crain’s Chicago Business.

The building at 233 S Wacker Drive in Chicago IL, 60606 may have a new name and signs soon but the people of Chicago will take a while to stop calling it the Sears Tower and going to the Sears Tower Skydeck. (How many years has it been and I still call Macy’s Marshall Fields?) 

I don’t think Chicagoans have a particular affinity to the Sears company, (judging by how poorly Sears has done in this market in the past 10 years) I just think they knew the Sears Tower building as an icon and point of pride for a city that was second or third place for everything else. 

The Architecture Firm Skidmore Owings and Merrill designed and built the building over 3 years for SEARS which was the largest retailer in the world then. From 1970-1973 the city watched and waited as this new modern design changed the way the world saw Chicago.

An amazing reflective shot on our city of Chicago and the Sears Tower or Willis Tower as a beacon in the middle of the metropolis.

The image and pride was somewhat lessened when the Sears Tower was no longer the tallest building in the world and now with the name change it seems like it might eventually just be destined to become another tall building in a world of metropolises.

This also lessens the novelty of the Chicago Olympic Bid. Seriously, what did we ever offer the Olympics anyway?

The Sears Tower was sold from SEARS to AEW Holdings in 1995 and since 2001 the building has been low on tenants and had a lot of space available. I understand that the owners need to sell space and if changing the name gets them a better sq footage rate and closes the deal, we really don’t have any say about it.

The Trump Tower and Hancock Building join the Sears Tower Willis Tower for a peek above the fog and clouds.

In this recession economy the companies and the people in Chicago are really just trying to get by. Live and work smarter, more efficiently and see if we can survive this mess. We really can’t be too worried about iconography of any kind right now. We’re really in much more of a practical mood right now.

I hope the insurance brokers at the Willis Group understand that you can change all the signage quickly but it’s just going to be a long time before most people refer to your building as the Willis Tower rather than the Sears Tower. After all Marshall Fields still got searches on Google for years after it was folded into Macy’s.

Image Credits to Flickr.com wallyg and paulmcdee and glenharper and celkins. Seeing their photos reminds me of how many people see that building every day and how visible is it from every part of the city. I am also so impressed by the quality of photos on flickr of the Sears Tower from all over town.