suspended from the 103rd floor of Chicago ‘s Sears Tower .
Designers say the platforms – collectively dubbed The Ledge – have been purposely
designed to make visitors feel as they are floating above the city.
The reward is unobstructed views of Chicago from the building’s west side and a heart-
stopping vista of the street and Chicago River below – for those brave enough to look
straight down.
‘It’s like walking on ice,’ visitor Margaret Kemp, from Bishop, California said. ‘The first
step you take you think “Am I going down?”‘
Long way up: Even the floor of the platforms are glass – few were brave enough to look
straight down.
Fearless: Anna Kane, five, spreads out on the floor of the 10ft square box which is
1,353ft up. Spectacular: She also enjoyed amazing views out across the city.
Unfazed: Although some adults felt dizzy after experiencing the Ledge, children
seemed to take it in their stride.
‘At first I was kind of afraid but I got used to it,’ 10-year-old Adam Kane from Alton ,
Illinois , said as clouds drifted by below. ‘Look at all those tiny things that are usually
huge.’
John Huston, one of the owners of the Sears Tower , even admitted to getting ‘a
little queasy’ the first time he ventured out on to the balcony. However, after 30 or
40 trips, he seems to have got used to it.
Thrillseekers: The boxes jut out four feet from the building and were specifically designed
to make visitors feel as if they are floating
‘The Sears Tower has always been about superlatives – tallest, largest, most iconic,’ he said.
‘The Ledge is the world’s most awesome view, the world’s most precipitous view, the view
with the most wow in the world.’
The balconies are 10ft high and 10ft wide, can hold five tons, and have glass which is 1.5
inch thick.
Inspiration came from the hundreds of forehead prints visitors left behind on Skydeck
windows every week. Now, staff will have a new glass surface to clean: floors.
Architect Ross Wimer said: ‘We did studies that showed a four-foot-deep (1.2 metres)
enclosure makes you feel like you’re floating since there’s only room for one row of people,
not just two.’
The Skydeck attracts 25,000 visitors on clear days. They each pay $15 to take an elevator
ride up to the 103rd floor of the 110-story office building that opened in 1973.
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I've been a Cruise Consultant for a number of years now and I can honestly say that it is just the best job ever. No two days are the same. I have got to know some fantastic people through the course of my job, both in the industry and clients,…
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