John Hancock Building

The John Hancock building in Chicago is located on 875 North Michigan Avenue. The building has a 100 stories and stands at 1,127 feet and if the antennas are added than the building stands at 1,506 feet. The building the was finished on May 8, 1968 making it the tallest building outside of New York City. Today the John Hancock building is the fourth tallest in Chicago and sixth tallest in the United States behind the Willis Tower (Chicago) , the Empire State Building (New York City) , the Bank of America Tower (New York City) , the Trump Tower (Chicago) , and the Aon Center (Chicago).

    The John Hancock building has many offices and restaurants with 700 condominiums and ranks third in the world in the number of residence in the world after the Trump Tower (Chicago) and Burj Khalifa (Dubai). The skyscraper was named after John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company because this company helped finish building the tower after the original owner became bankrupt. The 95th floor of the building has a restuarant with a great view. While the guest a dining they can look through the John Hancock Observatory. The view from the observatory is a 360 degree view of Chicago and you can see up to 4 states and over 80 miles. The obersevatory has an open air SkyWalk, which is the only one in Chicago. The John Hancock olso has a tour in 6 different languages narrataed by David Schwimmer. The observatory also has the world's highest skating rink.  On the 44th floor there is the highest indoor swimming pool in the world. The John Hancock building is very great place to visit if your in Chicago.

    The construction of the John Hancock Center started in 1965. The construction work the building came to a halt in 1967 because of a bad credit by the owner. Also the project was halted because of problems with foundation engineering and soil mechanics miscalculation. The building was stopped at 20 stories high. The owner then became bankrupt and the insurance company of the John Hancock took over the project and finished the building. The cost to construct the building was around $100,000,000. The building was constructed under Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) an engineering company. The main designer for the building was Bruce Graham. He also designed the Willis Tower. The structural engineer Fazlur Khan who also worked on the Willis Tower.  Many people have worked on the John Hancock to make it the magnificent building it is.