TJones Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Could be worse, Like Arnold-Willis Tower. "What Chu Talkin' 'Bout ?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Chicagoans will call the Sears Tower "Willis Tower" or "Arnold Tower" or even "Mrs. Garrett Tower" as long as it doesn't interrupt the steady flow of beer into their addled minds.Go Bears.Nah, seriously that is sort of surprising for a Houstonian (of all people) to hear. I guess I just assume that Chicago has a sense of civic pride to go with their architectural history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Go Bears.Nah, seriously that is sort of surprising for a Houstonian (of all people) to hear. I guess I just assume that Chicago has a sense of civic pride to go with their architectural history.Like many cities, Chicago trades on its past. Chicago's glory days were the 1890's and the 1950's and the 1980's. Maybe in 50 years the 2000's will be seen as a similar period, but right now I don't see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 To me, like the Transco tower, Sears will always be Sears. Who cares what THEY name it, it's what WE call it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Google news had related stories and they were saying how Chicogoans will still call it Sears. I'm sure everyone is different though.I think most of America will want to keep calling it Sears, at least for a little while. I'm not sure the publicity it got will reach to a lot of people outside of Chicago and they'll just keep it Sears out of ignorance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heights2Bastrop Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 That tall, ugly building down on Bell in downtown is now, has always been, and will forevermore be known to me as Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 This is the worst news I've heard all day.Good day, then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Google news had related stories and they were saying how Chicogoans will still call it Sears. I'm sure everyone is different though. People always say things like that when reporters ask them, but history shows otherwise. Oh, and I remembered another recently-lost Chicago institution -- Montgomery Ward. The headquarters building is now condos: And the former Montgomery Ward catalog warehouse is offices for the Big Ten Network, some internet startups, and a Japanese restaurant: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Sears Tower -- and it's still called that for the time being -- will invite its Skydeck visitors to enjoy a view usually reserved for window-washers and superheroes. It'll be a walk on the high side as visitors on the observation deck step into glass enclosures that extend 4.3 feet beyond the building. Beneath their feet in dizzyness-inducing splendor will be the city itself, 103 stories below, with an inch and a half of glass between person and pavement. The attraction, called the Ledge, should open by early June and is part of a multimillion dollar renovation of the tourist spaces at the nation's tallest building, said Randy Stancik, Skydeck general manager. http://www.suntimes.com/business/1553404,C...sears01.article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Freaky sweet! I love me some heights! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 The CN Tower has a glass floor at the top, but not glass walls like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 The one at the Grand Canyon is breathtaking, but a perfectly clear box with no obstruction? wow!!I was thinking about making a long weekend trip to Chicago this year for a mini vacation, and this totally seals the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 I don't even like leaning over balconies...I might pee my pants if I went on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Just reading a wikipedia article on 'the big willie' and in the article, it was stated that the new company wants to paint the tower silver as kinda a rebranding and build a highrise hotel next door...like the original plan called for. Just thought it was interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barracuda Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 I always thought the Sears Tower looked a bit draconian in black. I think it'll look better in silver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talbot Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Im all for the silver, but for some reason Willis Tower just doesn't do it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Just reading a wikipedia article on 'the big willie' and in the article, it was stated that the new company wants to paint the tower silver as kinda a rebranding and build a highrise hotel next door...like the original plan called for. Just thought it was interesting.The idea of painting it a lighter color came from the building's management company long before Willis expressed interest in moving to the tower. Willis doesn't own the building, it just bought naming rights. Trust not the Wiki.As for the color change, it's part of an overall "greening" of the tower, as so many skyscrapers fall over each other for LEED status.The black of the tower made sense back in the era it was built. Most of its contemporaries (Hancock Center, Daley Center, IBM Plaza, 860-880 North LSD, Equitable Building, CNA) all had the same Miesian look. He's a God around here, and even has a street named after him.These days, all of the new skyscrapers are silver and blue and shiny. Painting the Sears Tower to match might be a good idea after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Im all for the silver, but for some reason Willis Tower just doesn't do it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Yesterday the head of the company that owns the Sears Tower made a few announcements.Among them -- wind turbines for the roof, a 50-story companion hotel next door, and zero chance of it being painted silver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Yesterday the head of the company that owns the Sears Tower made a few announcements.Among them -- wind turbines for the roof, a 50-story companion hotel next door, and zero chance of it being painted silver.The wind turbine idea is great, hopefully it will become a standard feature in all buildings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDeb Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 The wind turbine idea is great, hopefully it will become a standard feature in all buildings.I'd be interested in seeing what kind of structural retrofitting would be required. I'd be pretty surprised if the answer was "none." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Renderings from the Video: Link Video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 All the local real estate folks are being unusually vocal about that hotel not working out. A few have researched hotels in that area over the last couple of decades and couldn't make the numbers work.I think the building owners will do it anyway. First, they don't have any land cost -- it's going in on the block they already own. Second, that area has exploded with residential and medium-density office development in the last five years, yet there is only one hotel and it's about 10 blocks away. Third, there must be some potential there because J.W. Marriott bought an old bank nearby and is converting it to a hotel.The people who own the Sears Tower these days are looking toward the long-term growth of the neighborhood, and are trying to position the building as the center of the growth. You might think that something as massive as the Sears Tower would naturally be the focus of what goes on in Chicago, but... not really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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