Sears Tower and Sears Tower Skydeck

Chicago's Sears Tower: a serious work of architecture

In a city known for its inspiring architecture., no historic structures in Chicago stands as tall as Sears Tower.

Located on the West side of the Loop, The Big Store, as it has been known, opened on May 3, 1973, and remains the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere, bursting through the skyline at 110 stories — a looming 1,700 feet tall.

Often mispronounced by children as the “Serious Tower,” the Sears Tower will soon have a new name. Come June, the behemoth will be renamed Willis Tower after the London-based insurance company that recently bought the naming rights.

What’s more, architects are considering changing Sears Tower to an all-silver structure to lighten its appearance on the skyline and make it more contemporary. Local protests have already begun; Chicagoans aren’t fond of change.

Made of black steel ,the superstructure with bronze-tinted glass was designed by Bruce Graham of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill for then Chicago-based Sears, Roebuck and Co. And if you are of keen eye, you might detect a four-inch lean from vertical in the tower, due to its asymmetrical design which creates unequal weight on its foundation. The stepped-back appearance of the tower was created by a series of interlocking tubes terminating at different heights.

Step inside the tower, and a colorful moving mural by sculptor Alexander Calder greets you. Titled “Universe” the 55-foot-high, 33-foot wide 1974 work is in yellow, blue, red and black. The mix is a playful contrast to Graham’s dark tower, which Graham referred to as “a mountain on the plains.”

A trip to the tower's Skydeck on the 99th floor is highly recommended. It offers the most complete view of Chicago's skyline. There are days when the clouds are lower than the Skydeck and a white fog will swirl past the floor to ceiling windows. From 99 floors high, cars on expressways appear as moving diamonds.

When you return to earth, there's an interesting gift shop on the main floor where you can find all things Chicago and much on Sears Tower. Suspicions are that, if you'd pile all the items together, the stack would equal the building's height.

On a clear day, the view from the Skydeck can span 50 miles and include four states. And getting up to the 99th floor is a snap. The ride up and down the building's elevators takes less than a minute, and the glide is so gentle that your stomach won't leap.

Much like people who are drawn to scale a mountain peak "because it's there," so it goes for the yen to climb Sears Tower. In 1981, "Spider Dan," Dan Goodwin, clad in a homemade Spiderman costume and armed with suction cups, clawed his way up the hulking structure. After seven hours, Goodwin made it to the top, only to be met by firefighters. The city was giddy with delight, and Spider Dan became a local hero.