Ryan--Sears+Tower

The Sears Tower Standing 1,454 meters high in the sky, the Sears tower is the Main attraction in Chicago Illinois. This 110 story building gives Chicago a sense of power. Until fairly recently, it was the tallest building in the world but that spot was taken by the BURJ space Khalifa (tallestbuildingintheworld.com). It took 2,000 workers 3 years to complete the huge building. In the 1960’s a major fire in downtown Chicago left 1/3 of the city in ruins which left large areas of ground for building. With steele being mass produced the architects were able to use an economical and strong building material that allowed them to build up. This was the birth of the skyscraper. The Board of the sears company liked this new idea so they built their new headquarters in Chicago. The Sears Tower is home to some of Chicago’s major economic players. When it was built it was initially the headquarters for the Sears Roebuck Company. 50 stories are actually hotel rooms and at the 103rd floor hangs the famous GLASS box, which extends no more than 10 meters out from the building. This box was placed for people to go out on and look at the streets below. The architect that designed the Sears Tower is Bruce Graham and the tower was completed in 1974. Very recently the Sears Tower has been bought by a company originating in China. Even more recently it was renamed Willis Tower. Most people have not accepted the new name but the owners are confident that it will one day fit. The tower has been refurbished with outer gardens and solar panels. New elevators have been installed to make a total of 130 elevators, 3 of which are express elevators to the 103rd floor. The future for this building looks bright. The new owners of the tower are donating $10,000 for the 2016 summer Olympics bid and, the workers are going to donate another $10,000 for it. They are bringing more money into Chicago. The Sears (or Willis) tower has a lot of important history behind it and will for years to come. With the new owners it will go far. Even though it is an office building the Sears Tower Should be on your must see list.