Da Sears

So, seeing as how I felt the shockwaves all the way out here in LA-LA, no doubt everyone knows about the announcement that floored the Chicagoland and Northwest-Indiana area today.

My first response was much like Roddy Rod when he got the call from the Feds: "Is this a joke?"

But reports on ChicagoTribune.com, Suntimes.com and phone confirmation confirmed it all.

They are going to change the name of the Sears Tower to Willis Tower.

Okay, so what I'm going to say next will no doubt cause similar shock, anger, and vitriol directed at me for being 'out-of-touch', for having gotten too much sun, or maybe, finally, truly, 'gone Hollywood'.

The thing is: I'm not that upset.

Saddened, yes. Defensive, a little. Outraged, no. As much as I usually really don't like him, columnist Eric Zorn made a decent point today about everything. Because here's the thing, having a great and deep love for this city and its landmarks I knew that Sears hasn't been the primary occupier of the Sears Tower since the mid-1990's. I also know that in this economy downtown occupancy rates have been steady, with a few new building getting put on hold or stopped completely, so its very nice to hear that big businesses are still interested in investing in the Loop, in Chicago.

And, let's be honest, and maybe this is my inner "Glen Ellyn-ness" coming in, but, when was the last time you went to Sears? I mean, if you need tools: go to Home Depot, if you need trusted brand clothing at great values: Marshall's or the outlet mall, and if you just want to feel bad about yourself, then head to Denny's!

I'm not happy about it, and I'm not saying it won't make me sad to see the giant SEARS TOWER sign on Wacker get changed, but we should all see the silver lining which is that Chicago is a city constantly changing, growing, expanding.



Chicago is at a very important crossroads as a city right now. We'll find out in just 203 days whether Chicago will be chosen to host the Olympics in 2016. We are the home (like him or not) of a sitting U.S. President, and a damn internationally popular one at that. In recent years we've seen the city undertake new construction like Millennium Park, Trump Tower, and the soon-to-be finished Chicago river walk.

Even though Chicago grew mightily out of its catalogue-selling big department stores like Sears and Marshall Field's, that's not who we are anymore (though THAT I am still pissed about, don't ask me why: %#!* Macy's). Listen, the mail-order catalogue is on the outs, the steel mills are closed and the only thing that's left of the mighty stockyards is the famous limestone gate. But WE are still here, because Chicago is a constantly changing and evolving entity - that's what makes us great.

And, hey, it could be worse. "Willis" ain't too bad. It's got an elegance to it (short of the Different Strokes gags, which have to be exhausted at some point). It could be stupid ole' L.A. where people don't even know the names of the buildings that dot their pathetic skyline [The really tall building in downtown L.A. is the US Bank building, and gaudily bears the name of that bank on its crown]. And let us REALLY count our blessing that we are only losing a name. The skyline remains the same, as we've seen how even that cannot always be a certainty due to the fanatical evil that permeates our time.

The Sears Tower will still stand, tall and proud. It's skydeck will still be available to anyone who want to recreate a favorite moment from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's antennae will still be like a giant barometer for the heart of the city, turning green on St. Paddy's; red, white and blue on the 4th; and orange and blue on those very rare occasions when the Bears stumble their way into the playoffs (by the way, if we are going to get outraged about something in Chicago, how about the failure of Jerry Angelo to get us a real QB or of Pax to just about screw up everything?)

So though this occurence this summer will be sad, let's not get too down. We are still the "Stormy, Husky, Brawling, City of the Big Shoulders".

I do take solace that the label of this great building is forever immortalized in an SNL sketch when the Superfans were discussing New York vs. Chicago, and - as was often the case - a question was posed:


-Would you radder have da Empire State Building or da Sears Tower?

- DAAAAAA SEEAAARRRSSSSSSSS!!!!!


-MJK