Tell me about Chicago (esp. Sears Tower)

[BOZ]

it's very, very tall. from the observation deck, you can see like 1/3 of the city or something.

i don't know that there are any senators' offices in the sears tower, but there are a whole lot of offices of different types. in fact, i'm not sure that any senators are based in the city at all, to the best of my limited recollection.

there is always city hall, where a lot of gov't officials work, and the daley center (remember the blues brothers ending?)

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Since 9/11, Mayor Daley has been very much against any kind of flyovers of downtown Chicago. The mian elevators go up to the 88th floor, and then up from there, if I recall from the last time I was there. The main floor is very secure now, with metal detectors, badge access just to get near the elevators, and a variety of restaurants in or around the lobby. You used to be able to just walk in. There are three public levels, IIRC below the lobby, and one above. There is a full-service post office down there. Many major law firms have space in the building and at least one fancy "dinner club" sort of place, though after 9/11, building occupancy has lower quite a bit. Sears hasn't been in the building for over a decade now. The Chicago River is only a block away, so is Union Station.

If you have more specific questions, I'll try and answer them - I don't know the building that well, but I used to eat lunch there once or twice a week for quite a while, and I've been on the upper floors multiple times.

 

[kenobi65]

The observation floor is called the Sears Skydeck.

http://www.the-skydeck.com/homeDefault.htm is the web page, and that should give you a lot of information on it.

There's a separate entrance in the building specifically for visitors going to the Skydeck (IIRC, it's on the south side of the building, which is on Jackson Blvd). You go in that entrance, buy your tickets there on the ground level, *then* take the elevator up to the 103rd floor, which is the Skydeck floor.

On a clear day, you can see far enough to see Wisconsin to the north, Indiana to the southeast, and Michigan to the east (on the other side of Lake Michigan).

When you're up there, basically picture a big square room, sort of shaped like a donut (i.e., there's an inside wall and and an outside wall). All the "outer" walls are windows; the inner walls have exhibits (and that's where the elevators and restrooms are, too).

 

[kenobi65]

Since 9/11, Mayor Daley has been very much against any kind of flyovers of downtown Chicago.

Yup, he hates 'em, and has tried to get a federal law banning 'em, but without success. Still, someone flying a chopper 20' from the building is *going* to attract attention from the authorities. (Then again, I've seen not-dissimilar things done during filming of movies downtown, so, if they can come up with a plausible story...)

 

[kenobi65]

There's a prisoner being kept on the 37th floor of the Sears Tower, guarded by mercenaries working for an Illinois senator who has an office there (don't know if you can actually have a senator with an office in the Sears Tower, but no one objected).

The elevators in the Sears Tower (or, for that matter, any tall building) are divided up into banks serving groups of floors. If you're going to the upper floors, you first have to take an express elevator that takes you up to one of two "Skylobbies", then switch to a "local" elevator that takes you to the exact floor.

To get to 37, you'd need to take an express elevator to the Skylobby on the 33rd / 34th floor (based on what I'm reading, it's on both floors), then transfer to a local elevator to get to 37.

The primary entrance is on the west side of the building, from a plaza on Upper Wacker Drive (not Lower Wacker Drive, of Blues Brothers fame; that's directly underneath). They could also enter from the east side, on Franklin Street.

 

[Conaill]

I always thought that skyscraper with the slanted diamond-shaped roof would be great for a "cliffhanger". Dang, whatsit called? Ah.. the "Smurfit-Stone Building" (no I didn't make that up ):

Apparently, the building is a real hazard in teh winter, because big sheets of ice tend to slide off the roof. Could be interesting if the opposition has any weather-related magic...


PS: the website where I got that picture seems like a great resource for info on Chicago buildings:
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/bu/?id=101030

 

[TDRandall]

Isn't that the building at the end of "Adventures in Babysitting" that towards the end the little girl (who IIRC loved THOR the superhero) escapes from the bad guys by climbing outside and scaling along the sloped section, while her parents are at a party a couple floors away?

Sounds like a cliffhanger to me!

 

[Conaill]

Never seen Adventures in Babysitting, although several of the user comments on imdb do praize the movie for its excellent use of Chicago landmarks. Might be a good one to add to the list of movies to see when preparing for a game set in Chicago...

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Isn't that the building at the end of "Adventures in Babysitting" that towards the end the little girl (who IIRC loved THOR the superhero) escapes from the bad guys by climbing outside and scaling along the sloped section, while her parents are at a party a couple floors away?

I'm pretty certain that building was the Thompson Center/State of Illinois Building. It's right across the street from where I work. It's a pretty interesting building in it's own right. It was also featured in the shootout at the end of "Running Scared" with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines, where they gun down Jimmy Smits' character...

"Adventures in Babysitting" does have some great Chicago locations, though.

"Nobody gets out of here until they sing the blues..."

 

[eris404]

on the south side, say past comiskey park (oh sorry, US CELLULAR FIELD ), you also get the more creative vendors selling bootleg DVDs, socks, fruit chews, scented oils, and everything imaginable under the sun.

Dread October (a player in our group) has told me hilarious stories about that. I think the socks amuse me the most, but socks tend to amuse me in general.

i live right by rogers park, in west ridge. used to live in rogers park for about 6 years, lived on the south side for almost a year, then moved where i am now. and they have started working on the facade of the uptown theater, very recently, so it may open again soon one day! i work right by that corner, Broadway/Lawrence right by the Aragon Ballroom and Green Mill, and it has changed a whole lot in the last 3 or 4 years.

Hey! We're almost neighbors! I live in Edgewater.

graceland (Irving Park/Clark streets) is defnitely a cool place. i have about a dozen relatives buried there, maybe more. the monuments there are outstanding.

I wish I had the time to go there right now - around Halloween is probably the best time to visit.

errrr....I suppose I should actually add something about Sears Tower, right? The last time I went was for a work meeting and the people I was with were bringing in lots of computer equipment (a PC, camera, scanner, etc.). It was a major pain trying to get through all of the metal detectors and a monitor was broken in the process. The guards were not amused.