03/05/2020
Proud to host Mayor Irvin's State of the City address at Fox Valley Mall.
THE AURORA RENAISSANCE: Mayor Richard Irvin’s 2020 State of the City Address brought more than 400 people to Fox Valley Mall … and it was quite the event!
Held at the recently renovated Center Park – with the theme ‘Renewal. Redevelopment. Revitalization. Renaissance.’ – the event was packed with energy and information from the very moment it began with an introduction of City staff and aldermen (coming out to the song This is How We Do It) to the very close with the announcement of performers coming to RiverEdge Park this summer and the Mayor dropping the mic (literally) as he exited the stage to the song Can You Feel It?
Prior to the Mayor speaking, the audience heard from the Aurora Poet Laureate Karen Christensen with her new poem ‘One Aurora’ and from the Dr. Brian Caputo, President of the College of DuPage and the Chairman of the Aurora Complete Count Committee, who underscored the importance of the Census and unveiled the City’s new promotional video for the Census.
The leaders of Aurora’s three Chambers of Commerce welcomed the business community to the event and the mall’s general manager Scott Samson welcomed everyone to the mall (for some it was their first time in the mall in more than 10 years) and made the surprise announcement that the large gold fox in the Center Park was being named Irvin in honor of the mayor.
Samson then joined Irvin to present new business owners at the mall with the Mayor’s Award of Excellence and to do a ceremonial group ribbon cutting to officially welcome them to Aurora.
The mayor proclaimed the state of Aurora as currently ‘going through a renaissance!”
10 highlights of the Mayor’s 2020 State of the City Address:
1. AN INCREASE IN PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIALS to the highest staffing levels in the history of the Aurora Police Department and Aurora Fire Department with 208 firefighters and 307 police officers!
2. A DECREASE IN CRIME, including burglaries (down by 27.3%), robberies (down by 5.3%), burglaries (down by 27.3% ), and shootings (down by 7.6%)
3. AN INCREASE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PERMITS to 2.5 million sq. ft. of projects: 1.8 million square feet in new commercial developments and .7 million square feet in redevelopment projects.
4. MAJOR ABANDONED BUILDINGS IN DOWNTOWN THAT SAT VACANT FOR DECADES ARE BACK ONLINE with projects at the Terminal Building, the Hobbs Building, the Esser Building, the Pocus Motors Building, the Silver Plate Building, the Keystone Building, the former Waubonsee Community College Building, Aurora National Bank AND MORE!
5. 45 RIBBON CUTTINGS AND GRAND OPENINGS IN A YEAR, including 8 new restaurants and 125 new residential units in the downtown area alone and new projects all over the City!
6. THE SINGLE BIGGEST INVESTMENT IN AURORA’S EASTSIDE IN MORE THAN A GENERATION with the former Copley Campus with a $128 million investment project underway for an innovative living center and the new headquarters of East Aurora School District 131
7. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SMARTY CITY INITIATIVE through the 605 Innovation District which will provide a foundation in technology and innovation across all areas for the present and future generations.
8. THE LAUNCHING OF THE AURORA MENTORING ALLIANCE to better equip parents, police officers and principals/educators with information on Aurora mentoring programs in the community and in the schools as a prevention or intervention tool for youth
9. A PROGRESSIVE CITY COUNCIL that has supported all of these initiatives and voted to approve and implement many more that will only move Aurora forward, including a restructuring of City Council Committees, TIF districts. Intergovernmental Agreements, Recreational Cannabis, and a BALANCED BUDGET!
10. …. OHHHHHH ….. and the announcement of some of the line-up this summer at RiverEdge Park, including Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Buddy Guy, Sugarland and THE GODFATHER OF HIP-HOP, SNOOP DOGG!
