Chicago’s Aon Center Is Getting an 82 Story Glass Elevator

There are so many things to do in Chicago that you could spend an entire week there and not even knock out the most popular options. In addition to trips to the Sears Tower, Hancock, Bean, secret bars and north or south side baseball games, there’s another attraction on the horizon for all you thrillseekers out there. Architects at Solomon Cordwell Buenz are attaching an 82 story glass elevator to the side of the Aon Center skyscraper in Chicago’s Loop. In other words, this is basically the Sears Tower glass sky deck except it travels an impressive 16.6 feet per second as it rockets you 82 stories into the air, which makes it the tallest and fastest elevator in North America. We never thought we’d get to the point where we’d be impressed by an elevator in a skyscraper, but everything changes when you make it all glass to turn it into an experience. The elevator, along with the new observation deck with 360-degree views of the city, a lounge and restaurant, is expected to open within the next three years.