Photo of the collapsed roof on the old CB&Q, later Burlington Northern, on Route 25 just south of downtown Aurora. Photo courtesy of Juan Carlos Orozco.
DOWNTOWN AURORA – Last week the flood came and as waters rose, the city rallied together in epic proportions. Sandbags and cleanup kits came, Facebook cleanup events were posted, and neighbors lent helping hands and shop vacs. In the aftermath, everyone was busy getting wet and muddy – too busy to notice another closed street and some fallen bricks, perhaps.
So when Juan Orozco posted a photo on his Facebook page of the collapsed roof on the old CB&Q train depot, it didn’t seem to get much notice – until one of his friends spotted it and shared the photo with a group focused on downtown Aurora. Shortly after, The Beacon-News posted a story about the roof collapse. Then eyebrows were raised and the discussion got started.
“Shame on the city and Shodeen,” someone posted below the Beacon-News story link. According to tax and deed public records, Shodeen owns the property.
Someone then wrote, “There are several buildings in/around downtown Aurora that need to be torn down.”
Then, like all good Facebook threads, the discussion went several different places and then back again.
Why didn’t the city take steps to ensure that the building was structurally sound, and that is was being properly maintained?
“If I have cracks in my driveway blacktop, the city cites me with fines. What have they done to Shodeen?” someone asked. And later, “Where is the outrage?”
When should citizens step up to protect what’s important to them? Is it just OK to rely on a city to take care of saving an important, historic building? Are we too passive to assume the city has our back in preserving our community? Should our revered architecture be left in the hands of developers?
One resident suggested making a list of buildings that are vital to downtown Aurora, and that should be preserved. On the eve of the scheduled demolition of the old train station, what can we do to keep other significant buildings in downtown from crumbling to the ground? What would our downtown be like without these unique additions?
1. Hobbs Building/northwest corner of River and Galena (vacant)
2. Elks Building/northwest corner of Benton and Stolp (partially vacant/city-owned)
3. Aurora Public Library on Benton (soon-to-be-vacant)
4. Terminal Building/northwest corner of Galena and Broadway (vacant/bank-owned)
5. Silverplate Building/northeast corner of Downer/Stolp (vacant/owned)
The buildings above could all be in danger of the wrecking ball in the near future. Whose responsibility is it to save them? And who has the power to save them? The city, a developer, special interest groups, or you?
To contact the city, or your alderman, about the current state of buildings in Aurora, visit http://www.aurora-il.org/aldermen/index.php.
This is such a shame… shame in the company who owns this building and a shame on the City. I would think that the City would have done some sort of inspections at some time but I believe that if the City wants to keep its historical buildings they need to step up and start inspecting these buildings more often. It won’t be king before old Copley and old West High School will be crumbling down.
And to think that Aurora history revolves around Burlington and the railway system….you would believe they would have saved this building. Great job Aurora. … great job ; (