AURORA BOREALIS Summer 2013 | Page 4

Dear neighbor,

Aurora offers more family fun than ever

It’ s shaping up to be the most exciting summer Aurora has ever seen, with the opening of a new, outdoor entertainment venue and a jam-packed schedule of family events in our beautiful downtown, and elsewhere throughout our city.

The Celebration of Summer begins with the opening of Aurora’ s newest riverfront attraction, RiverEdge Park. This permanent music venue is located on Rt. 25 with the convenient Metra Train Station( ATC) just across the street and the meandering Fox River bordering its west side. Popular Blues on the Fox will christen the park on Friday, June 14 and Saturday, June 15, presenting the likes of Buddy Guy, Dr. John, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, and others.

Classic Rockers( Peter Frampton), Country Singers( Loretta Lynn and Randy Travis); Classical Artists( Fox Valley Orchestra); Broadway( Idina Menzel); Tribute Bands-- Full Moon Fever( Tom Petty), Get the Led Out( Led Zeppelin); and Mexican super-celebs, Joan Sabastian and Ramon Ayala, will be among the Stars who grace the high-tech stage throughout the summer and into September. The construction costs of the park have already been covered by grants from The Dunham Fund, State of Illinois, and Fox Valley Park District.

Our top-notch, annual 4 th of July Fireworks celebration will return to the downtown riverfront, this year, for the first time in a decade. There will be three main viewing areas: the new RiverEdge Park, McCollough Park, and Wilder Park.( See the back page for details.)

Arts and Entertainment Growing in Aurora’ s Downtown The huge success of the Paramount Theater and the June opening of RiverEdge Park may be just the beginning

of the arts and entertainment expansion in our downtown. Gorman and Company, a nationally renowned urban redeveloper, has a contract to purchase the two historic buildings that, until recently, served as Waubonsee Community College’ s downtown campus. Gorman hopes to convert these buildings into Artists Live-Work Lofts, a concept they have succeeded at, elsewhere. And a Batavia-based developer is seeking a redevelopment deal with the City of Aurora to transform the former Elks Building( Benton St. and Stolp Ave.), a beautiful and unique structure built in the 1920s in Mayan Revival architectural style. The developer envisions multiple arts and entertainment uses for the building. And look for Aliano’ s Ristorante for fine Italian dining on New York Street’ s Restaurant Row in late 2013 or early 2014.

New Downtown Library In another boon for the arts in the downtown, a new Aurora Public Library is now under construction at the corner of River and Benton Streets. The library, made possible by a $ 10.8 million grant from the office of Jesse White, Illinois’ Secretary of State and Chief Librarian, will be largely technologydriven and will be accessible on-line from Aurora schools and homes.

I hope you and yours can participate in all the family-friendly activities that Aurora has to offer this summer. After all, we’ re doing it all for you!

Best Wishes,

Mayor Tom Weisner

The Greater Aurora Chamber of Commerce hosted the annual State of the City Address on March 21. Before a capacity crowd of over 400 elected officials, business and civic leaders, Mayor Tom Weisner reviewed the accomplishments of 2012 and previewed some of the exciting initiatives for 2013. With the theme“ Ready for Primetime”, some of highlights of the State of the City Address included:

• Zero homicides in 2012 and violent crime rates that have decreased 40 % in the last 5 years – and 9 % in 2012 alone!

• $ 126 million dollars invested by Aurora businesses and 800 new jobs brought into the city!

• The $ 3.8 million dollars in TIF assistance approved by the City Council that brought another $ 27 million in private investment and will generate nearly 300 more jobs!

• The $ 8 million in property tax revenue generated in 2012 by TIF # 2( Chicago Premium Outlet Mall) that was only generating $ 25,000 annually in 1989- a 32,000 % increase!

• The $ 1 million Gigabit Challenge Grant that Governor Pat Quinn presented during his visit to Aurora that will help provide schools, libraries, and healthcare facilities connectivity to City’ s fiber optic network!

• The $ 10.8 million dollar Library Construction Grant that Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White presented during his visit to Aurora for the construction of the new Aurora Public Library!

• The $ 15 million in construction costs covered by the State of Illinois, the Fox Valley Park District, the Dunham Fund, and the Kane County Forest Preserve that will allow for the Grand Opening of Aurora’ s RiverEdge Park!

These are just the tip of the iceberg of what has happened and what is to come. Watch the 2013 State of the City Address by visiting the City’ s website at www. aurora-il. org and clicking on the‘ Mayor’ s Office’ tab.