By 1969, Sears was the largest retailer in the nation, and looking to update their outdated headquarters.
1 In the mid-1920s, Sears transitioned from the mail order business into regional stores. In the years that followed, thesmall company grew tremendously, becoming the largest mail order business in the world by 1906. Sears, Roebuck and Company was incorporated in 1893 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck. This company, who commissioned the building as their new headquarters in the early 1970s, played an integral role to the final form and size of the Tower. Originally, the Willis Tower was called the Sears Tower, after Sears, Roebuck & Company. The name change will stand for the duration of their ten year lease.
In 2010, the building was renamed the Willis Tower after Willis Group Holdings, a London insurance broker and currently the largest tenant of the tower. May 18, 2020-The building is temporary closed due to flooding following record rainfall.Major Works Sears Tower (currently Willis Tower)įig 1: The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) dominates the Chicago skylineĬhicago natives now affectionately call the Willis Tower ‘Big Willie’, (Figure 1) to go with ‘Big John’, the John Hancock Center, and ‘Big Stan’, the former Standard Oil Building, a sign that the city may finally be accepting the building’s new name. Keeping or changing the name of the building was not addressed. MaWillis Tower Watson announces an agreement to combine with Aon plc. No one was in any danger, Willis Tower says. JThe protective layer covering the tower’s glass SkyDeck splinters. MaThe Blackstone Group announces it has signed a deal to buy Willis Tower for $1.3 billion.Ģ016 - Paul Kurzawa, a film executive from the DreamWorks Animation studio, is hired to oversee redevelopment of the tower in an effort to boost tourism.įebruBlackstone Group unveils its plans for $500 million in tower renovations, including revamping the lobby, adding retail and dining spaces and a rooftop garden, among other things. The same month, an attraction called the Ledge opens on the 103rd floor, with glass balconies and a view down 1,353 feet to the street below.Ĭracks develop in the protective coating on a glass sightseeing ledge. July 2009 - The Sears Tower is officially renamed Willis Tower. March 2009 - The owners of the Sears Tower announce that the building will be renamed Willis Tower, after new tenant Willis Group Holdings (Willis Towers Watson as of 2015). The Sears Tower becomes the world’s third-tallest building.ĭecember 1997 - The building is sold to a Canadian real estate firm, TrizecHahn Corp. Weight - 222,500 tons or 445 million poundsīuilding exterior - black aluminum and bronze-tinted glassĪrchitectural firm - Skidmore, Owings & Merrillġ973 - Construction is completed and the building opens to the public.ġ994 - Sears, Roebuck & Company sells the building to reduce its debt.ġ996 - The Petronas Twin Towers surpass the Sears Tower in height to become the world’s tallest buildings at 1,483 feet each. Lowest level - 43 feet below Franklin St.īuilding size - 4.5 million gross square feet Height of Skydeck/103rd floor - 1,353 feet
Height with the two antennas - 1,730 feet Structural height - 1,450 feet or 110 floors One of the first major buildings to have a sprinkler system. Security personnel monitor the building 24 hours a day. Security cameras are located in all public areas of the building. Some 25,000 people enter the skyscraper every day.Ībout 1.7 million people go up to the Skydeck visitors’ observation deck on the 103rd floor each year. With clear weather, four states are viewable up to 50 miles away: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. The Sears Tower was the world’s tallest building until 1996, when it was surpassed by the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Here’s some background information about Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, located in Chicago.
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