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subscribeSears Tower is going to be renamed. Get over it.
posted: 03.15.09 at 09:30 PM
filed under: chicago
Last week, it was reported that Chicago’s iconic Sears Tower would be renamed Willis Tower as part of a new lease agreement with London-based Willis Group Holdings. The announcement prompted a negative reaction among many of my fellow Chicagoans.
To those who denounce the name change as an absurd affront to the character of the city: please, get over it.
Several Chicago icons have eschewed tradition by adopting new names in recent years. The Standard Oil Building was renamed the Amaco building in 1985, then the Aon Center in late 1999. The new Comiskey Park was renamed US Cellular Field in 2003, less than 12 years after opening. Less than three years ago, Marshall Field’s on State Street became Macy’s.
Each of these changes was roundly condemned by a great number of Chicagoans. Many pledged to reject the new names altogether, in favor of the more traditional titles. In each case, as years passed, the new names became a common part of our collective lexicon.
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I can relate with the discontentment caused by these name changes. I usually refer to the south side ballpark as “Comiskey,” but I don’t apologize for occasionally calling it “The Cell.” Likewise, I’ve grown accustom to the fact that the Rosemont Horizon – a venue a few miles away from where I spent my formative years – is now known as Allstate Arena.
In both cases, I have an emotional connection to these venues. The first time I saw a baseball player hit a home run was at Comiskey. I saw my first concert at the Horizon, and have fond memories of watching the circus there as a child. These warm and fuzzy childhood memories made accepting the new names, reflecting the cold face of corporate America, much more distasteful.
I have no such sentimental attachment to the Sears Tower, and I doubt that many of us do. In fact, many Chicagoans have never set foot in the building, only having admired the grand structure from the outside.
This name change is different from others in years past. The original Comiskey Park was named after team owner Charles Comiskey, who commissioned the park’s construction. When the new park was renamed after a lousy wireless carrier, it reflected a break from tradition in order to woo a corporate sponsor.
Sears Tower was already named after a corporation. I fail to understand how so many people are attached to a name that is emblematic of Craftsman tools and cheesy flannel shirts.
Furthermore, Sears, Roebuck and Co. moved their operations to the suburbs in 1995, and their naming rights on the building expired in 2003. This change was inevitable and, in many ways, long overdue.
I cannot find fault in with the name “Willis Tower”, as it is beautifully simplistic in comparison to other corporate-sponsored names. After all, the building that replaced the historic Boston Garden is now called TD Banknorth Garden; San Francisco’s Candlestick Park was briefly named Monster Park. When a corporate sponsor buys naming rights to a building, the resulting names typically vary from awkward to ridiculous.
To those who aren’t fans of the name change, consider the alternatives. “Willis Tower” is far more palatable than “Dick’s Sporting Goods Tower,” “GoDaddy.com Tower,” or “Brown’s Chicken and Pasta Center.”
