Strong leadership, bold ideas, and a shared responsibility to improve the quality of life for the nearly 8.6 million people who call the greater Chicago region home are a few of the reasons why the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) presents the annual Regional Excellence Awards.
CMAP executive director Erin Aleman visited Aurora to present the 2023 Regional Excellence Award for Equity with Impact to the City of Aurora and the Fox Valley Developers for the inspiring $129 million transformation of the old abandoned Copley Hospital into the now-thriving Bloomhaven campus.
After sitting vacant for 25 years, Bloomhaven is home to Weston Bridges, a first-of-its-kind independent living community for people with intellectual, cognitive, and developmental disabilities, and the Bardwell Senior Living Residences, an independent living community for seniors. In addition, East Aurora School District 131 operates its headquarters on site, and a five-acre park and playground connect to the surrounding neighborhood with trails and walking paths.
The 340,000-square-foot health campus, vacant since the mid-1990s, is now an innovative living community, helping revitalize the area for the residents and surrounding communities.
The project was led by Fox Valley Developers, six Aurora natives who wanted to give back to their hometown in a substantive way.
—City of Aurora government