Among the sea of skyscrapers surrounding Millennium Park, one building stands out from the rest—the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Tower, whose light messages have been a fixture of the Chicago skyline for nearly three decades.
While the building’s facade is a well known public spectacle, the operation behind it is one shrouded in mystery. Here’s the inside scoop on Chicago’s brightest billboard!
The BCBS Tower lights—a low-tech operation
The BCBS Tower’s iconic messages are a collaborative effort between coordinator Ashley Bullock and head electrician Roy Swanson, according to multiple sources.
In a recent Tik Tok shared by local creator Barry Butler, Bullock demonstrated just how staff create the light displays—and the process is surprisingly old school.
“We have over two thousand windows,” Bullock says. “…The shades either get pulled up or down to create our messages.”
Rather than relying on an automated system, Swanson maps out each light display using Excel spreadsheets. Then, housekeeping and facilities teams manually adjust the shades in accordance.
To ensure the messages appear correctly from the street, Swanson designs the configurations in reverse—creating a mirrored effect. Most displays consist of two or three lines of text, with each line spanning about five floors.
Messages with a purpose
According to Bullock, the building’s messages fall into a few specific categories: health and wellness, holidays, civic and community pride, and partnerships with local organizations.
Previous displays have recognized everything from the Chicago Bears and Lollapalooza to American Heart Month.
“Unfortunately, we can’t light for everything,” Bullock explains in Butler’s video, “but we try to light for as much as we can.”
Next time you’re downtown and marveling at the message above, know that there’s a whole team of everyday Chicagoans who make it all possible.