August 7, 2025
Dear editor;
Below you will find a letter that I sent to Denise Crosby at the Aurora Beacon News, in response to her column on the Aurora Civic Center Authority.
Denise,
I wanted to applaud you for your column today about the BOLD series and the future of the Paramount Theatre.
My husband and I have been subscribers to both the Broadway and BOLD series since their inception. We gave up subscriptions to Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago once BOLD was launched; we knew it would be fabulous, and wanted to do whatever we could to support such an extraordinary undertaking in the western suburbs. We are live theatre junkies; we travel domestically and internationally – and theatre is always at the top of our lists of things to do, both here and abroad. BOLD could hold its own against anything we’ve seen anywhere! It’s unfortunate that more Aurora folks don’t take advantage of this, but that’s a conversation for another time.
I am absolutely beside myself over the comments that mayor Laesch is making about reducing the city’s grant and support to the Paramount. In my career with the City of Aurora (1999-2012), first as Downtown Development Director and then as Neighborhood Redevelopment Manager, I saw the difference that the Paramount made in the revitalization and promise of a new day in downtown Aurora. Now that the “renaissance” that so many people worked so hard on for so many years is finally seeing the light of day, I feel as if the mayor and his staff, in their short-sightedness, are cutting our community off at its knees. (I apologize for the cliches and mixed metaphors; you can tell that I am upset!)
Regardless of the time of day or day of the week that I find myself in downtown Aurora, the positive vibe is real. I accompanied some friends from Naperville yesterday to see “Million Dollar Quartet.” They had recently seen “True West.” All they could talk about was how fortunate we are to live in Aurora where there is such a wealth of cultural offerings, and where the businesses in downtown Aurora were so unique – compared to what they could find in their town. I hear the same response from everyone who visits downtown Aurora, whether they are coming from Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, Yorkville, Oswego, North Aurora, or Naperville – or even the UK, where my daughter lives.
As a retired public employee who has worked in several jurisdictions, I would offer the opinion that elected officials have two key responsibilities: to provide a positive vision/plan for their community, and to find creative and responsible ways in which to make that vision a reality. Aurora has seen tough times, that’s for sure. But that is not the case now. We have seen cycles – up and down – in the past 25 years (and certainly before) – but we are clearly on the upswing now. I strenuously hope that our elected officials don’t cut the ropes, pull the rug out from under us, throw the baby out with the bathwater – or any other tired (but valid) cliche that comes to mind.
Thanks for listening,
Karen Christensen, Aurora Poet Laureate Emerita