Fire museum work finally complete
Nov. 25 party: Building will be showcased without exhibits
By Dave Parro, Staff Writer

AURORA &emdash; The people who have been most involved in the renovation of the Aurora Regional Fire Museum don't hide their excitement about finally reopening after years of delays and cost overruns.

The Nov. 25 party marking the end of the project is officially an opportunity to show off the remodeled two-story building and celebrate the 109th birthday of the former Central Fire Station. On the museum's Web site, however, the party is jokingly referred to as the "Yippee the Nightmare is Finally Over End of Construction Celebratory Bash."

That type of enthusiasm isn't really out of line, considering the renovation was supposed to be complete in fall 2001 but was delayed numerous times by unexpected work, water damage and problems with the original contractor. The restoration is now complete except for the front staircase in the middle of the building.

"We are still putting on final finishing touches," David Lewis, the museum's curator, said. "The final piece of the puzzle is the main staircase on the inside.

"We are racing against the clock, but everything else is done."

The party at the end of the month will feature only the restored 1894 building at 53 N. Broadway, Lewis said. The fire museum's exhibits will be moved in during the winter, and the museum will hold a grand opening in the spring.

Bob Marks, a retired Aurora firefighter who spent his first decade in the department at the central station downtown, said the restoration brings the building "pretty close" to what it looked like when he started there in 1952. A few things are out of place, such as the bottom of the staircase where the firemen used to sit and talk to the operator in the front office, he said.

The staircase had only three steps at the bottom but now extends farther because of modern construction codes.

"When you're here for 10 years, you remember," said Marks, who is on the Board of Directors for the Aurora Regional Fire Museum.

The project started in January 2000, when the city was awarded a $750,000 grant through the Illinois FIRST program for restoration of the old fire station, which was last used by the Aurora Fire Department in 1980 and turned into a museum seven years later. Architects then worked
to produce detailed drawings and plans to reconstruct the building's original facade and interior.

Some of the major renovation work has included the staircase, a new roof, replica onion dome, bay windows and skylights, and refinished floors.

"Over the years, a lot of people wandered by and thought, 'Hey, what's going on in there?'" Lewis said. "This is sort of the grand unveiling."

The Nov. 25 party will start at 5 p.m. and will be open to the public. The cost is $20, and all proceeds will go toward moving the fire museum back into the old fire station and building the exhibits. Deborah Davis, the museum's manager, said there hasn't yet been an estimate for how much it will cost to put the museum back together.

"No one's really put an entire building together," Davis said. "Usually it's one room and one exhibit at a time."

The museum's items are being stored in the basement of a downtown business and various other places, Davis said.