The Silver Side of Sears?

Channel surfing tonight, my eyes spotted on Chicago's WGN a brief segment about proposed color changes for the nation's tallest building.

Further inspection online yielded this Chicago Sun-Times report on possible LEED Certification for the tower (the related online poll shows a slight lead for "no" -- don't paint it -- votes as of this post's upload time).

The photo above, as well as the rendering, are from the Chicago Sun-Times site and credited to Brian Jackson/Sun-Times, Sun-Times Illustration.

The Windy City's CBS affiliate also did a decent segment on this topic.

Apparently the selection of silver has zero relation to Olympic medals (no surprise), but rather the LEED rating system. Considering the apparent price tag of up to $50 million -- for PAINT (!!!) -- the whole thing gives one cause to pause and wonder whether they'd be using NASA-engineered (and priced) paint, or that Willy Wonka paint that's flavored with chocolate and snozberries (in either and ANY case, they'd have to repaint every few years, which seems expen$ive and $illy).

I'd personally rather see some of that money go toward Chicago's Olympic bid (here's a thought ... in honor of the bid, how about painting the Sears Tower's top few levels with the colors of the Olympic rings, which could easily be touched up when the city wins the bid, or painted over for later non-Games activities).

But one can appreciate the need for the building to make improvements, and the LEED designation looks like a step in the right direction. Obviously, the discussion is getting some new ink and air time for the iconic tower, so kudos those who are telling the tale.

One of my Edelman colleagues, Tony Wilbert, blogs about real estate, so will have to ask him for his two cents on this later this week.

In the meantime, will be thinking about that scene from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" in which Matthew Broderick & Co. leaned up on the glass from the observation deck to state, "I think I see my dad."