By Marissa Amoni –
It’s not a rare occurrence that I either witness first hand or hear second hand of someone being awestruck by the coolness of some place in downtown Aurora.
Perhaps it’s the shiny red, vintage fire trucks pristinely kept at the Aurora Regional Fire Museum, the hip, wide-open space of Aurora Public Art’s third floor gallery, or the back deck at Tredwell Coffee that stretches along the Fox River and is reminiscent of Europe. Or, maybe it’s sitting at the new Aurora Tap House (formerly The Web) at the longest bar in the City and under an incredibly-restored tin ceiling.
Or it could be something less tangible, such as the amazing customer service from Jon or Kristina at All Spoked Up, or an energetic boost of self-esteem given freely by downtown-friend Victoria. “Hey, gorgeous,” Victoria is often heard saying to a passerby.
Whatever it is that speaks to downtown visitors, I want to share with everyone. I want to invite everyone to come in and visit downtown haunts, museums, shops, restaurants, and sweet, little community theaters. To that end, Aurora Downtown is inviting everyone to “come in” and enjoy downtown.
New banners with “eat, drink, play” and “art, music, more” will feature photographs taken by me, James Cardis, and Jason Arthur that feature real individuals enjoying downtown Aurora. New A-frame sandwich board signs will welcome everyone to come in outside of participating First Fridays venues.
Aurora Downtown’s Facebook profile picture now says come in. Aurora Downtown’s Marketing Committee is working with Aurora Fastprint to produce a series of small cards with suggestions on where to relax, eat, drink, play, and more.
Everyone is invited to come in and enjoy all of the amazing things happening in downtown. Please, come in.
Marissa Amoni is events coordinator at Aurora Downtown, a nonprofit of business and property owners in Special Service Area #One. The January Challenge is ice. Post a photo, verse, or art to Facebook featuring downtown ice, or send to marissa@auroradowntown.org by January 31. A random submission could win a nice tote bag of downtown goodies. All ages are encouraged to submit.
There is frequently something fun happening when visitors come in to a downtown museum or place of business. Nyahbingi Drum Choir performs “Songs of Splendour” to close the Jazz Occurrence show in September 2018 on the third floor gallery at Aurora Public Art in downtown Aurora.
Photo by Marissa Amoni/Courtesy of Aurora Downtown