Doomsday is finally here, Chicagoans. Tilt your heads to the sky and give one, final salute to the Sears Tower. Later this morning, you’ll no longer be able to.
At a 10 a.m. ceremony (funeral?), the official name change for the tallest building in the United States will take place. And while we Chicagoans typically give warm welcomes to new kids on the block, welcoming the Willis just won’t be easy.
After all, the Sears Tower has been the Sears Tower since it first opened in1973. And “Willis” just doesn’t have quite the same ring to it -- unless you're a big Diff'rent Strokes fan.
But the London-based insurance brokerage Willis Group Holdings decided to make the change official Thursday, and a ceremony will be held at the downtown Chicago skyscraper for this “celebration,” the Chicago Breaking News Center reports.
Willis is leasing 140,000 square feet of the tower and will move 500 new employees to the building.
Time to suck it up and deal, people, because the time is now. All right, we've gotta say it:
Welcome to Chicago, Willis Tower.
