At 80, ironworker who has dangled atop Chicago's tallest skyscrapers is still climbing

CHICAGO - The ironworkers clambered onto the Willis Tower roof, 1,450 feet above the city.

Then they climbed higher. The mission: Complete the installation of one of the skyscraper's massive antennas, another 290 feet skyward.

John Rukavina, hard hat strapped to his head and trusty Red Wing boots protecting his feet, grasped the bars of the ladder attached to the towering antenna, glanced upward and headed for the top.

Dangling more than 110 stories above the Loop is second nature for Rukavina. He has done it for decades. Now 80 years old, Rukavina has toiled at the top - the real, actual outside-in-the-clouds, highest-point-possible top - of the tallest skyscrapers in Chicago's famous skyline.

"It's safer to be on that antenna," Rukavina said, "than it is to jaywalk on LaSalle Street at noon."

Rukavina is semiretired now but will climb on high-profile jobs that pique his interest. A recent offer to work on the Willis Tower fit the