Goodbye Sears Tower...

tntornadox · #1 03-14-2009, 01:19 AM

This is absolutely disgusting...

From the Chicago Tribune:

Quote:

Come this summer, Chicago's iconic landmark known around the world is getting a new moniker: Willis Tower.

Willis Group Holdings, a London-based insurance broker, announced Thursday that it will consolidate its area offices to Sears Tower and as part of the deal, gets to put its own name on the 36-year-old skyscraper.

Willis will move nearly 500 associates into Willis Tower, at 233 S. Wacker, initially occupying more than 140,000 square feet on multiple floors. The company said the move to the new space, at $14.50 per square foot, will result in significant real estate cost savings, and that there is no additional cost to the company associated with renaming the building.

"It was part of our negotiations," said Willis spokesman Will Thoretz. "We are actually not having to pay anything for renaming the building."

The rental information is accurate but the terms of the deal are incomplete, said a Sears Tower spokesman, who declined to provide additional information.

"The details that have been disclosed are not a complete picture of the agreement," the spokesman said. "We view the economic terms to be proprietary information and do not reveal those for any of our transactions."

The move is a coup for Willis, which counts Aon Corp. as one of its main competitors. Come this summer, Willis' name will be on a tower taller than Aon Center.

"It's a tremendous boost for the Willis brand in North America," Thoretz said. "We're especially well known in the U.K., but we're relatively unknown in North America. We really feel this will make us a household name in the U.S."

A spokesman for Aon said, "Chicago is firmly established as a global financial center so we welcome their support for the city."

But what of any potential backlash, or the inability of Chicagoans to call the building anything but Sears Tower? "Old habits die hard but we feel that ultimately people will come to embrace the Willis name," Thoretz said.

That remains to be seen. For building tenants, the name change will cause them to re-evaluate how they refer to their workplaces and, more importantly, how they direct visitors to their offices.

"I'll suppose I'll tell them the structure formerly known as Sear Tower," said Ronald Safer, managing partner at Tower tenant Schiff Hardin LLP, in a nod to 'the artist formerly known as Prince.' "It is a sign of the times. These former institutions, the names will change as the bidding dictates."

The addition of Willis partially offsets the loss of Ernst & Young, which announced late last year that it would leave its 387,000 square feet in Sears Tower this summer and relocate to John Buck Co.'s new building at 155 N. Wacker.

Sears, Roebuck & Co., now based in Hoffman Estates, finished construction on the office building in 1973 but has not had offices in it since 1992. At the time it was the tallest building in the world and built for what was then the world's largest retailer. It was eclipsed in 1998 and is now the tallest in the Western Hemisphere.

A spokeswoman for Sears said the retailer was not approached about striking a deal to keep its name on the building. "We're saddened but we don't own the rights to the building."

mepodmolik@tribune.com

Article Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,7014962.story

What disgusts me is throwing away history for nothing, since they gave the naming rights away for free without even asking Sears if they wanted to renew the rights... and they are naming it after a foreign company...

I want to buy Big Ben and rename it "Big Clock" and see what happens.

Alot of protests have already begun, the most formal one being the e-petition on the website http://www.itsthesearstower.com, I doubt this happens without a huge fight.

**Ryan F** · #2 03-14-2009, 01:40 AM

Alot of people were pissed when SkyDome got renamed to Rogers Centre.
Yes, it sucks when something you grew up with changes, but that's life. Petitions aren't going to do anything to change it. All you can do is keep on calling it what you like and pass it on as you grow older.
Barely anyone calls Rogers Centre by it's new name, we all call it SkyDome, except for the employees, the media, and younger generations that have only seen it as Rogers Centre.

**Andrew P** · #3 03-14-2009, 02:13 AM

^Just like when Geauga Lake was taken over by that pirate organization, Six Flags. It didn't matter if the name was Six Flags Ohio or Worlds of Adventure, it was always Geauga Lake to the locals.

Just like it isn't Progressive Park, it is Jacob's Field.
Just like it isn't Quicken Loans Arena, it is Gund Arena.

**Brian F** · #4 03-14-2009, 02:26 AM

We never stopped calling the Hoosier Dome the Hoosier Dome when it became the "RCA Dome."

Of course, now we call it a big pile of rubble.

**Leo C** · #5 03-14-2009, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew P

Just like it isn't Quicken Loans Arena, it is Gund Arena.

Is there a third alternate name that will work?

It's a crime the rebranding of Sears tower to this Willis Tower name. It's a shame Sears moved out of the building and into the suburbs.

I like calling the ATM "ATM" especially since MAC was acquired by Star Systems. People still call it MAC.

coasterlove · #6 03-14-2009, 07:25 AM

Ok, lets hear from a Chicagoan...

It's upsetting but at the same time, not completely surprising. I heard about it a couple days ago and at first a little shocked but then it got me thinking about how nearly every stadium, big building and almost anything else with a name has been changed for some sort of sponsership deal.

I'll probably still refer to it as The Sears Tower for a long time. It's not as if Willis is even catchy or memorable. So if anyone ever comes to Chicago, I can give you directions to "The Sears Tower". Ask me where the Willis Tower is at, I'll just give you a confused look. And most Chicagoans might not be that nice if you ask.

coasterqueen · #7 03-14-2009, 11:03 AM

I refer to most renamed coasters as their original names, especially the ones at King's Island and other ex-Paramount parks.

I bet 99% of Chicago natives will keep calling it the Sears Tower.

-Tina

**Brian F** · #8 03-14-2009, 11:41 AM

^ Ah, but do you refer to Fairly Odd Coaster at KI as Beastie or as Scooby Doo?

PANTSFREE · #9 03-14-2009, 12:00 PM

*Shrug* its just a name, replacing one company's name with another. I don't think it is worth worrying too much over.

89magnumxl200 · #10 03-14-2009, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew P

Just like it isn't Quicken Loans Arena, it is Gund Arena.

I've always called it Gonorrhena.

***Steven*** · #11 03-14-2009, 01:39 PM

Outside of Detroit, they have the DTE Energy Music Theatre... but we always call it Pine Knob. Which is easier to say?

89magnumxl200 · #12 03-14-2009, 01:53 PM

Or just DTE.

**Jimmy B** · #13 03-14-2009, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coasterlove

I'll probably still refer to it as The Sears Tower for a long time. It's not as if Willis is even catchy or memorable. So if anyone ever comes to Chicago, I can give you directions to "The Sears Tower". Ask me where the Willis Tower is at, I'll just give you a confused look. And most Chicagoans might not be that nice if you ask.

But some time from now, the next generation of locals there, who may be influenced by the media will only know this tower by it's new name Willis Tower....it's only a matter of time before the Sears name becomes all but forgotten. So this is going to create a gap between the older generations (if they insist to keep calling it Sears) and the younger ones. Just something we're going to have to get used to....I don't like the new name either.

This isn't the first time controversy surrounded the tower, I remember how upset I was ten years ago when the world record was taken away from it when the Petronas Towers and Taipei 101 Tower were built, even through they counted the pinnacle of those buildings and not that of the Sears Tower (which is actually higher than the other two).

coasterlove · #14 03-14-2009, 02:22 PM

True about the first point Jimmy. As time goes on and the media calls it by the new name as does the building's employees itself and advertisement, younger people will grow with the new name. Although it will be a long time though before most over the age of 18 get used to calling it the new name if they ever choose to.

The second part about the height never bothered me though for some reason. I think it's because it was still the tallest building I've ever seen as well as still the tallest in North America today. And nobody really cared about some building that was desperate to achieve the height record so they added a decorative spire. Now that the record has been set legitimately a couple times I believe, it even matters less.

I'd like to see that Chicago Spire built one day hopefully after the economy picks up. Since it would be the new tallest building in Chicago as well as possibly the tallest in North America at that time, the new name of the Sears Tower becomes even less of an issue.

Ta2KX · #15 03-14-2009, 03:46 PM

Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis? I'll always call it the Sears Tower, especially when I build my Arrow Fish Hook coaster down the side of it.

**Leo C** · #16 03-14-2009, 04:13 PM

^You beat me to it. "Whatcha talking bout Willis?" I expect someone from Chi-town will say.

coasterqueen · #17 03-14-2009, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian F

^ Ah, but do you refer to Fairly Odd Coaster at KI as Beastie or as Scooby Doo?

Beastie.

I am just used to the names I know.

Name changes don't bother me like they do a lot of enthusiasts. I am just too lazy to remember the new ones.

-Tina

**Wes** · #18 03-14-2009, 05:57 PM

I think Sears is going to go under sometime in the next decade if they keep closing stores. One of the original ones in Charlotte is closing this summer and it's been there over 30 years. So the name thing was going to happen eventually I think.

It's still sad though to see the name go, like when they renamed Candlestick Park.

**Leo C** · #19 03-14-2009, 06:56 PM

I think the Candlestick Park name is back. I just read about the place this week in researching the CGA ordeal. I thought like everything one else that Monster was the jobs website. It was the Monster Cables brand.

coasterlove · #20 03-14-2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo C

^You beat me to it. "Whatcha talking bout Willis?" I expect someone from Chi-town will say.

Trust me, it's been said already. At least one person being interviewed the day it hit the news said it. Also, I believe a couple times it was mentioned in the newspaper the next day.

I might call it the "Bruce Willis Tower".

**Leo C** · #21 03-14-2009, 07:41 PM

"Yippie I ka ye *##$%@####." Bruce Willis Tower sounds way cooler especially with Hans.

violakat03 · #22 03-14-2009, 09:24 PM

I'll continue to call it the Sears Tower. Just like anything that is corporate sponsored, it's name will change. Willis may not be the last name the tower carries. I still call Cincinnati's old stadium Riverfront, even after it became Cinergy Field. I'm sure "Great American Ballpark" will fall to the corporate sponsorship and I will still continue to call it Great American Ballpark.

Old habits die hard, but changing corporate sponsors are just a sign of the times.

Smoky · #23 03-14-2009, 09:31 PM

I always hated when they took a perfectly reasonable creative name and gave it some valueless souless corporate name as part of a sponsorship deal.

It's like when they changed the name of Pine Knob to DTE music theatre... such a bad change. In Novi, MI they moved the Novi Expo Center but renamed the new place "Rock Financial Place"...sounds like a bank, not an expo place.

I always said that if I ever won a the lottery and gave money to charity, never to name buildings or funds after me (especially memorials)... For example: If I gave money to a hospital to build a maternity ward, I say name it the "Pushpushpush" maternity ward.

It's like when they renamed that coaster "the Dominator"...it sounds like something Arnold Schwarzenegger designed...lol, I mean they couldn't come up with a better name?!?

**Leo C** · #24 03-14-2009, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by violakat03

I still call Cincinnati's old stadium Riverfront, even after it became Cinergy Field. I'm sure "Great American Ballpark" will fall to the corporate sponsorship and I will still continue to call it Great American Ballpark.

It's already corrupted. It's sponsored by Great American Insurance Co. I saw the name on something at work.

tntornadox · #25 03-15-2009, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wes

I think Sears is going to go under sometime in the next decade if they keep closing stores. One of the original ones in Charlotte is closing this summer and it's been there over 30 years. So the name thing was going to happen eventually I think.

Ah, but see, it would amaze you the great number of people who do not associate the Sears Tower with Sears, Roebuck & Co. at all, only though research do most make the connection.

And that isn't relevant... there are several buildings in New York that have kept their names over the years- Woolworth's closed their last US store in 1997, but it's still named the Woolworth Building, isn't it? The Chrysler Building was vacated by Chrylsler a long time ago, but it's name hasn't changed either.

In my opinion- Sears built the tower- if they do go under, it is their lasting legacy. The City of Chicago needs to stand up and take notice and have a real opinion in the matter- they owe one of their city's greatest companies that much... the Sears catalog turned Chicago into a household term across the U.S. back in the 1800s.

**Jimmy B** · #26 03-16-2009, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coasterlove

Now that the record has been set legitimately a couple times I believe, it even matters less.

In the opinion of many, myself included, only the Burj Dubai has legitimately surpassed the Sears Tower comprehensively in all categories. It wasn't until last year, Shanghai's newest skyscraper surpassed the Sears only by highest floor.

Highest Floor (completed as of 1/1/09)
1,555 ft -- Shanghai Financial Center (completed in 2008)
1,450 -- Sears Tower (1974)
1,441 -- Taipei 101 (2004)
1,319 -- Hong Kong Financial Center (2003)
1,230 -- Petronas Tower (both towers) (1998)
1,224 -- Empire State Building (1931)

Highest Pinnacle (antenna/spire)
1,730 ft -- Sears Tower (1974)
1,670 -- Taipei 101 (2004)
1,614 -- Shanghai Financial Center (2008)
1,500 -- John Hancock Center (Chicago) (1969)
1,482 -- Petronas Tower (1998)
1,473 -- Empire State Building (1931)

The One World Trade Center's top floor was 1,368 feet and pinnacle was 1,725 feet just to point that out.

I didn't include the Dubai Tower since it's highest point is still to be announced, but we already know it has far and away topped every other structure in existence. Also there are many other buildings in the Middle and Far East on the way, but we'll worry about those when they get done.

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