On June 13, 2014, the New York Times (
visit link) ran the following story:
"Chicago Winces After a Jewel Is Stamped ‘Trump’
By STEVEN YACCINOJUNE 12, 2014
Donald Trump said the new sign on the Trump International Hotel & Tower could become an iconic symbol for Chicago. Credit Nathan Weber for The New York Times
CHICAGO — There was a collective sigh of relief when Donald Trump opened his 92-story hotel and condominium tower here six years ago.
Absent the gold and glitz that some had expected from the publicity-loving developer, the glass-and-steel structure was applauded for its elegance, and quickly embraced as the second-tallest building in a city that prizes its architecture.
But Mr. Trump was not finished.
As crews installed the final letter of a new sign for the building on Thursday, some Chicagoans were kicking themselves for being foolish enough to think that Mr. Trump would resist stamping his name in lights above the Chicago River.
Twenty feet tall and backlit by LEDs, five stainless-steel letters — T-R-U-M-P — are set to become a fixture in the cityscape. And they have caught the eye and the ire of the only other personality in Chicago big enough to rival Mr. Trump: Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“Mayor Emanuel believes this is an architecturally tasteful building scarred by an architecturally tasteless sign,” Kelley Quinn, the mayor’s spokeswoman, said in a statement on Thursday. She acknowledged that the sign had been approved by the City Council last year, but said that Mr. Emanuel had instructed Mr. Trump’s office to determine any “options available for further changes.”
The building, the Trump International Hotel & Tower, was once intended to be the tallest building in Chicago, surpassing the Willis Tower, an ambition that was eventually scaled back to its current 1,392-foot form. The building, designed by the Chicago architect Adrian Smith, replaced a squat Chicago Sun-Times building with aging yellow lettering.
The 12th-tallest building in the world, the tower was constructed of 30 miles’ worth of glass that rockets into the sky, surrounded by some of Chicago’s most famous architectural accomplishments. On one side sits the historic Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower; on the other is the corncob-shaped Marina City.
“Look at all these buildings; none of them have names on them,” said Cole O’Beirne, 25, who works for a company that gives kayak tours of the city’s architecture. He said it was only a matter of time before Mr. Trump brought his self-promotional style to Chicago, a Midwestern metropolis that shies away from such East Coast swagger.
“It’s very New York,” he said about the Trump sign. “It’s very flashy.”
Mr. Trump has robustly defended his decision, calling the sign popular among his fans and good for Chicago’s image.
“I do think Chicago has far bigger problems than this sign,” he said in an interview on Thursday, adding that he had originally wanted the sign to be bigger and predicting that the five letters could become an iconic symbol for the city, on par with the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles.
“Trump is the hottest brand there is,” he said. “It doesn’t get any hotter in the world.”
Statements like that have made some Chicagoans relieved that the Trump insignia, illuminated white after sunset, was not more ostentatious.
Still, even during the lunch hour, the sign was impossible to ignore. On a nearby bridge, tourists took pictures with the building on their cellphones. Joggers, dog walkers and other residents stopped to gaze up, some mourning the change in their cityscape.
“They spoiled it,” said Paola Robledo, 35, who was walking her two young children in a stroller and called the move narcissistic. “I think it looks cheap.”"