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We Lived On The Edge And Visited Willis Tower's New Ledge
The Willis Tower installed "The Ledge," these new glass boxes that jut out 4.3 feet from the skyscraper to give you that standing-on-the-edge feeling in the pit of your stomach, on the west side of the building's Skydeck on the 103rd floor.
With a name like that, you'd think it was an amusement park ride. Adding to the amusement park novelty are shirts, mugs and other paraphernalia for sale that boast "Dare to Stand Out" and professional photographers on hand to take a souvenir snapshot of you in the floating box that will be printed and framed by the time you leave the building.
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United Is Moving On Up, To Chicago's Willis Tower
Someday, we might have a "United Tower" after all! After the whole fiasco earlier this summer of a London insurance firm buying the naming rights to Chicago's world famous Sears Tower and turning it into "Willis Tower," a move that was super negative in terms of public opinion, news surrounding the tower just got more positive thanks to an announcement from United Airlines.
As was rumored last month, the airline had been looking at the massive amount of empty office space in the building as a potential new headquarters for its operations department. After deliberations, United has decided to go with Willis for their new offices, they announced recently. They'll begin moving over 2,800 employees from the suburb of Elk Grove into their fresh 400,000 square feet at the Willis, and we think they should have gotten the naming right in the deal since they beat Willis' office space by 260,000 square feet.
In any case, United still has their name on the good old United Center, Chicago's multi-purpose arena that serves as home to basketball's Chicago Bulls and where we once ate stadium pretzels and slurpees through an Andrea Bocelli concert.
Related Stories:
· United Airlines operations moving to Willis Tower [Chicago Sun-Times]
· United Wants To Move Into Willis Tower, Turn It Into United Towerr [Jaunted]
· United Airlines Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Patrick Haney]
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United Airlines Wants To Move Into Willis Tower, Turn It Into United Tower?
Even if Chicago positively hates the changing of Sears Tower into Willis Tower just because a London insurance firm bought some office space in the building, the press from the name change has had some positive repercussions. For one, United Airlines might move in, trucking their operations division into the city from their current center in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove.
According to the Chicago Tribune, United is "looking to lease more than 400,000 square feet"; compare this to the measly 140,000 square feet leased by Willis, and we're wondering why United isn't holding out for naming rights. A "United Tower" sounds so much better than "Willis Tower" anyday.
United, based in Chicago, understandably wants to boost their image—after all, they were just ranked by SeatGuru for having the rudest flight attendants. We think it's a great idea for United to move into the Sears Tower; after all, they can use it as a backup control tower.
Related Stories:
· United Airlines may relocated operations center to Willis Tower [Chicago Tribune]
· Sears Tower Name to Change to Willis Tower [Chicago Tribune]
· United Airlines Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Patrick Haney]
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A Sad Day For Chicago: Sears Tower Officially Renamed
It's official: there is no more Sears Tower in Chicago. Today the naming right to the building, an icon of the Chicago skyline since its construction in the 1970s, switched over the British firm Willis, who bought the rights along with office space in the tower.
Now called the Willis Tower, the skyscraper at least has a buzzworthy addition that somewhat distracts from the name-change: the new glass ledge viewing balconies on the 103rd floor's Skydeck. But is waiting in a line just so that you can stand for a minute above the entire city enough to appease a community that holds the originial Sears Tower so dearly in their hearts? We said it once, and we'll say it again: if Chicago can get over Comiskey Park becoming US Cellular Field, home of the White Sox, then with time they will surmount even this.
Nonetheless, after the official announcement went out today, Twitter's hot trending topics lit up with mentions of the new Willis Tower name, and none of them too positive. Except for @abearatemyparen it seems, who says: "Willis Group? London based insurance company? No, I'ma pretend that's Bruce Willis' tower now." Or we could all just use this as an opportunity to constantly quote Gary Coleman from Diff'rent Strokes: "Whatchu talkin' bout Willis?"
Related Stories:
· London Firm Renames Chicago, Pisses Off Chicago [Jaunted]
· Look Down: Sears Tower Jumps On Glass Floor Bandwagon [Jaunted]
· What you talkin' bout, Willis? Sears Tower renamed [AP]
· Sears Tower Name Change Becomes Official [Chicagoist]
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Look Down: Sears Tower Jumps on the Glass Floor Bandwagon
Not content with the regular views from its 103rd-floor Skydeck, the Sears Tower - which will soon be renamed the Willis Tower - is adding four enclosed glass-floored balconies where visitors can look straight down past their toes to the street 412 meters below. Building managers say that the inspiration for the innovation came from the hundreds of forehead prints left on the windows every day by people looking for the sensation of flight. They're also following the lead of several other observation decks around the world, including the Grand Canyon Skywalk, Canada's CN Tower, and Australia's Eureka Tower. If all goes according to plan, "The Ledge" should be completed next month.
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London Firm Renames Sears Tower, Pisses Off Chicago
Those little etched glass statues and various overpriced souvenir plaques of Chicago's Sears Tower will be discounted just as fast as they are snatched up as souvenir manufacturers race to create new "Willis Tower" tchotchkes. The surprise renaming of the iconic monolith won't officially happen until July, but it's got the city in an uproar now.
