The once-iconic Signature Room, perched high on the 95th floor of the former John Hancock Center, has been the focus of significant news this week. Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), which originally designed the towering building in the 1960s, has been commissioned by 360 Chicago to revamp the now-vacant space where the upscale eatery used to operate. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, SOM plans to modernize the 95th and 96th floors with designs that honor the building's innovative legacy, promising a completion date in 2026.
In a turn of justice for workers affected by the restaurant's sudden closure last year, a federal judge has ordered more than $1.5 million in back pay to be distributed among 140 former employees. The ruling concluded that the Signature Room's managing group, Infusion Management, violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) by not providing the mandated 60 days' notice for the layoffs. This victory was reported by CBS News Chicago, where former server Ronald Gorny shared, "This is a huge win for us. We're getting justice."
While the new purpose of the Signature Room’s old location at 875 N. Michigan Ave. is still being teased out, it has been made clear by 360 Chicago it will not return as a restaurant. "We’re focused on storytelling in the space," 360 Chicago’s managing director Nichole Benolken told the Sun-Times. SOM partner Scott Duncan sees it as "an opportunity to rethink its role as a premier destination in the city’s cultural and architectural narrative."
This rejuvenation project and the court ruling come as a bittersweet development for the Chicago community. While new designs by SOM might project a vibrant future for the historic space, the closure of the Signature Room leaves a 23-year tenure employee like Gorny, and others with similarly deep connections to the restaurant, to reconcile the sudden end of an era. As Gorny conveyed in an interview with CBS News Chicago, the loss was personal: "It would have been real easy for the notice to be given, and we could have prepared to land on our feet." Meanwhile, Jim P'Pool, another long-term server at the Signature Room, described the unexpected job search as "absolutely horrific."
Despite the upheaval, some former employees like P'Pool have found a silver lining with new employment, providing a small sense of security amidst the ongoing adjustments. The redesign and the workers' back pay mark an intricate weave of endings and beginnings for a site that has long stood as a significant chapter in Chicago's skyscraper story.
