Ice skating in Chicago in January is nothing new. Doing it on the 94th floor of a downtown skyscraper certainly is.

Officials at the 100-story John Hancock Center said Thursday that they’re installing a rink that will allow visitors to skate at 1,000 feet up in the air.

About 20 people at a time will be able to skate on the 1,000-square foot rink. It will be open from January through March.

The rink actually won’t be made of ice. It will be made of a synthetic material that creates a hard, plastic floor with a slick silicone glaze.

It’s an attempt to attract more visitors to the building during a normally slow time of year. The 94th floor also has an open-air skywalk and a cafe.

The grand opening is scheduled for Jan. 1.

The Sears Tower will be getting a ‘green’ upgrade that includes wind turbines, roof gardens and solar panels will join the pair of antennas atop the Sears Tower’s staggered rooftops, said building officials who announced Wednesday that the skyscraper would undergo a $350 million green renovation.

The 5-year project would reduce the tower’s electricity use by 80 percent and save 24 million gallons of water a year, building owners and architects said. Separately, a 50-story, 500-room privately funded luxury hotel with its own green components would be built next to the skyscraper in 3 1/2 to 5 years.

The city’s planning board has endorsed a proposal for a twisting lakefront tower that would become the nation’s tallest building.

With Thursday’s approval from the Chicago Plan Commission, the design and site plan for the 2,000-foot Chicago Spire goes to the city zoning committee next week.

“This is a wonderful project, and everyone is very enthused,” said Constance Buscemi, spokeswoman for the city’s planning department.

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The city’s planning board has endorsed a proposal for a twisting lakefront tower that would become the nation’s tallest building.

With Thursday’s approval from the Chicago Plan Commission, the design and site plan for the 2,000-foot Chicago Spire goes to the city zoning committee next week.

“This is a wonderful project, and everyone is very enthused,” said Constance Buscemi, spokeswoman for the city’s planning department.

The 150-story tower, which would feature 1,200 residences, would unseat Chicago’s 1,451-foot Sears Tower as the tallest U.S. building. It would also top New York’s 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, under construction at the former World Trade Center site.

The Chicago Spire was designed by Santiago Calatrava, the Spanish-born architect known for designing the Milwaukee Art Museum addition and the Athens Olympic sports complex.

If the zoning panel approves the plan, the City Council will consider it May 9. If it is approved, construction would begin this spring, said Thomas Murphy, general counsel to developer Shelbourne Development Ltd.

Shelbourne executives have declined to estimate the building’s total development cost. Real estate experts put it at well over $1 billion, the Chicago Tribune and Crain’s Chicago Business reported on their Web sites Thursday.