Goodbye, Sears Tower!

Today is the first official day of the significant name change tot he tallest building in North America - the Sears Tower. It will now be called...... wait for it .... Willis Tower.

Willis Tower will be introduced to Chicago by Mayor Richard M. Daley and others on Thursday during a public renaming ceremony hosted by Willis Group Holdings. The London-based insurance brokerage secured the naming rights as part an agreement to lease 140,000 square feet of space, and has said it plans to bring hundreds of jobs to the city.

I know many Chicagoans will resist the name change, some even dislike it. Still, the city has had several building undergoing such name change (Standard Oil building to Amaco building to... er.... what is it now?). It will probably take a generation or so for the name to stick, and by then, who knows, Willis might be gone!

So for now, as a stubborn Chicagoan, I'll still call it the Sears Tower. Or, I may change my mind and just call it the "Big Willie".

Zz.