Out With The Old

Why must we change a good thing? It’s disappointing for me to witness as a Chicagoan name changes, or a new building replacing an old. In my short lifetime, I’ve watched old Comiskey Park come down, which was older than Wrigley Field. My grandmother lived about five blocks away from the park, so I felt it cut ties with history, the end of an exciting era, when they built the new stadium across the street and knocked down the old. Adding salt to the still open wound, U.S. Cellular bought the park and renamed it U.S. Cellular. That isn’t a baseball park it’s a billboard advertisement!

Then Soldier Field’s Greco-Roman décor combines with modern technology creating a flying saucer effect. Now I’ve been in the new stadium, and it’s nice, but the addition takes away from the beauty of the Doric columns.

One of the biggest sorrows came with the change from Marshall Field’s to Macy’s. Macy’s quality doesn’t match up to the higher end of Marshall Field’s, which stood on State Street as an iconic Chicago store. Marshall Field’s should have closed their doors yet instead the clock is left as a reminder of another Chicago loss.

A name isn’t just a name it attaches itself to the original object. Chicago’s recent change is the Sears Tower now renamed as the Willis Tower. I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that the Sears Tower will be the Sears Tower to everyone around the world. Big Willy can remain with its owners.

I’m normally all for change, but not at the expense of identity. Chicago has lost iconic markers over the last 2-1/2 decades, and when you think about the decades it took to build this city it’s a small amount of time to wipe away some of its history. It makes me wonder what else we’ll lose over the next 2 decades.

Even though these Chicago landmarks have been changed by name or looks, they will always remain the originals to me;

Comiskey Park

Soldier Field

Marshall Field

Sears Tower