The Willis Tower

Chicago obtains the tallest building in the Western hemisphere, as well as, the seventh-tallest freestanding structure in the world. This famous 108-story building is called the Willis Tower (formerly named the Sears Tower). The construction of the Willis Tower was completed in 1973; during that time, it was actually the tallest building in the entire world.

The Willis Tower is so popular among the tourists in Chicago, that literally over one million people visit its observation deck each year. Tourists tend to go to the 103^rd floor of the Willis Tower where the Skydeck located. The Skydeck is simply just the name of the Willis Tower’s observation deck. Tourists love how they can literally experience the building swaying on the windy days. Being 1,353 feet above ground allows tourists to be able to see far over the plains of Illinois and across Lake Michigan to Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan.

An extremely exciting renovation of the Skydeck was installed in January 2009 that literally made the Willis Tower even more popular to visit than it already was. This renovation of the Skydeck was to include an installation of retractable glass balconies that extends about four feet from the 103^rd floor of the building. In other words, there is now an all-glass box that people can go into and look down from to see the street 1,353 feet below them. Kaitlyn Pascus, a fellow Chicagoan who went inside the glass box, said that her experience in the box was, “A complete rush! It definitely was scary looking down, but it was such a beautiful view at the same time.”