# Sears Tower is getting a name change... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-tower-is-getting-a-name-change/489251 "2009-03-12T20:23:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-tower-is-getting-a-name-change/489251/21 "2009-03-13T03:10:29Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > No, don’t. If you want the best view of Chicago, go to the top of the John Hancock building. The view is spectacular, MUCH better than the Sears Tower (it will always be the Sears Tower to me) and even though the JH building is named for a company, it’s _always_ been named for that company, like Wrigley Field. Or to save money - instead of going to the observation deck, go to the bar. It’s free to go up there. Buy 1 drink, sit down next to a window, look out over the city. (The view from the women’s bathroom is damned cool too.) ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-tower-is-getting-a-name-change/489251/22 "2009-03-13T03:11:01Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > No, don’t. If you want the best view of Chicago, go to the top of the John Hancock building. The view is spectacular, MUCH better than the Sears Tower (it will always be the Sears Tower to me) and even though the JH building is named for a company, it’s _always_ been named for that company, like Wrigley Field. Wrigley was named for William Wrigley Jr., the Cubs owner at the time, not the Wrigley Company. He did own both obviously, but the naming wasn’t a promotional thing. I have no qualms about Sears and John Hancock being corporate names since those companies _built_ those landmarks, they earned the credit and they were the ones who showed the audacity to build them. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-tower-is-getting-a-name-change/489251/23 "2009-03-13T03:33:10Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Oh, I don’t think they have any illusions that people will start calling it the Willis Tower… right away. > > But eventually they will. It’s a long haul thing. Before I moved to Denver in 1966, there was a tollway from Denver to Boulder; the Boulder Turnpike. The toll was removed prior to 1966 and the road (now US36) is STILL known as the turnpike. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-tower-is-getting-a-name-change/489251/24 "2009-03-13T03:37:49Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Wrigley was named for William Wrigley Jr., the Cubs owner at the time, not the Wrigley Company. He did own both obviously, but the naming wasn’t a promotional thing. I have no qualms about Sears and John Hancock being corporate names since those companies _built_ those landmarks, they earned the credit and they were the ones who showed the audacity to build them. I’m just glad the philanthropic works of Marshall Field were held separate from the stores, else we’d probably be going to the Macy Museum too. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-tower-is-getting-a-name-change/489251/25 "2009-03-13T15:17:57Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Or to save money - instead of going to the observation deck, go to the bar. It’s free to go up there. Buy 1 drink, sit down next to a window, look out over the city. (The view from the women’s bathroom is damned cool too.) Hell, you can get a sandwich and a drink in the Signature Room bar for less money than admission to the Sears Tower Observation Deck. Don’t have to sit through a boring movie either. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-tower-is-getting-a-name-change/489251/26 "2009-03-13T16:26:49Z")
> [@BorgHunter](#): > > I find it extraordinarily unlikely that this would ever happen. Most Chicagoans still refer to U.S. Cellular Field as “Comiskey Park”. All the right-thinking ones do anyway. Or Sox Park. Last month, the **Wife** was meeting me for a hockey game. She works downtown, I drove in from the suburbs. She hopped in the cab and told the guy to take her to the Stadium. He did a slow turn, and said, which one? "oh, yeah, I guess the new one’s called the United Center… " ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-tower-is-getting-a-name-change/489251/27 "2009-03-13T22:05:07Z")
> [@BorgHunter](#): > > I find it extraordinarily unlikely that this would ever happen. Most Chicagoans still refer to U.S. Cellular Field as “Comiskey Park”. [del]Gold Coast[/del] Streeterville. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-tower-is-getting-a-name-change/489251/28 "2009-03-14T03:28:57Z")
Everyone knows that the Nakatomi Plaza is the _real_ Willis Tower. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-tower-is-getting-a-name-change/489251.md?page=1)