![]() It was the highest building in the world in 1974-1996.Ģ400 workers participated in the construction of the skyscraper. 1.5 million tourists visit the Sears Tower every year, two express lifts take them in less than a minute to the observation deck on the 103rd floor, which gives a speed of 1,600 feet per minute. Sears Tower is covered with black dyed aluminum and has over 16,100 windows. The building supports 104 instant lifts and 18 escalators. Telephone cables installed here would wrap the globe twice. Two TV antennas rise to a height of 527 meters.ħ6000 tons of steel were used for the construction of the tower, it would have been enough to produce 52,000 cars. They rise to the 50th floor, then the building narrows. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.The structure of this 443-meter tower, consisting of 110 floors, consists of nine structures with a square cross-section. ![]() This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. SNOW: I'll keep my tongue unto myself on that one.Ĭopyright © 2009 NPR. SCHAPER: As for the nickname Big Willy, Snow says. SCHAPER: Reginald Snow(ph) of Chicago feels the same. And it's strange that it would be called anything else. SUZANNE DICOSTANZA: Yes it does, because Sears is really a Chicago institution, I feel like. SCHAPER: Mike Hudgen of suburban Des Plaines says he just won't call it Willis, while the name change kind of bothers Suzanne Dicostanza(ph) of Chicago. MIKE HUDGEN(ph): It's a - you know, it's always going to be the Sears Tower, you know. But for Chicagoans outside of the Willis Tower, the new name is hard to swallow. SCHAPER: Bringing new jobs downtown, says the mayor. You know why, because they stepped up to the plate. Mayor RICHARD DALEY (Chicago, Illinois): Big Willy, Willis, yeah, Tower, yes. SCHAPER: For his part, Mayor Daley doesn't mind changing the name of the Sears Tower for a British company. And I said on TV yesterday, call it the Big Willy for all I care. JOSEPH PLUMERI (President and CEO, Willis Groups): You know, you can call it anything you want. So, New Jersey born and bred Joe Plumeri, Willis Group's president and CEO, says he knows it might be hard for Chicagoans to call the Sears Tower they grew up with, the Willis tower. Cellular Field," preferring simply The Cell. And many White Sox fans still refuse to call the former Comiskey Park "U.S. They picketed outside the historic Marshall Fields Department Store on State Street when it became Macy's. Chicagoans haven't been too kind to other corporate renamings. Willis Group Holdings, a London based insurance company, bought the naming right as part of its lease in the giant office tower. NPR's David Schaper reports on the renaming of the tallest building in North America.ĭAVID SCHAPER: Chicago Mayor Richard Daley joined Willis Group corporate officials in pulling a black covering off the giant Willis Towers sign in the lobby of this iconic 110-story skyscraper. And it's already acquired a nickname: the Big Willy. In Chicago, the tower formerly known as Sears is now known as Willis Tower, that officially begins today.
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