Photo taken by photographer Penelope Garcia of the Hobbs dome after high winds tipped it on February 19. The iconic building has been vacant for years.
The red one. With the dome. The cool one. You know. The one on the corner of River Street and Galena Boulevard. You’ve at least referenced it in one of these ways.
It’s the Hobbs Building. It’s one of the most iconic buildings in downtown Aurora. It’s historic and vacant. The dome shows up in any skyline of downtown – imagined or created.
It really wouldn’t be downtown without it. It’s kind of like the star on Leland Tower. (Read a full history of the Hobbs in the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of Downtown Auroran Magazine – available online here.)
But it has that pesky problem of being vacant. Add to that abused and ignored. Sadly, it was purchased a while back without much forethought and now it sits and sits and sits.
I check up on the Hobbs occasionally, and the city seems to be on the current landlord for some repairs, including the repair of the dome. I inquired about the fencing that was installed around the Hobbs back in the fall, and received this official response from city spokesperson Dan Ferrelli:
“The dome is once again in disrepair, so the property owners will be taking it down and storing it in the fenced-in area. They’re going to then cap off where the dome sat and either repair, rebuild, or replace it. Whatever the ultimate decision, they will be required to follow downtown guidelines.”
The dome did not come down. Some stabilizing occurred, I was told.
Then the winds came. Sixty-mile-per-hour winds that knocked down some lampposts, lots of tree limbs, and tipped our sad and beloved dome on the Hobbs.
The street below was quickly fenced off as a precautionary measure, I gather.
This beautiful building has lots of stories to tell, and its story is not over yet. Yet will it have the same fate as the old West High or the old train station? Buildings do not take kindly to years of neglect.
Are we waiting for restored funding or grants? An updated master plan? A future and possibly unforeseeable referendum?
We need to save our buildings now before they are gone. Maybe the tipping of the dome will be just the wake up call that we need.
Photo of the Hobbs dome captured in 2010 by Samantha Oulavong.
