Although not yet out of the pandemic’s dark woods, the good news is that we’re at least to a point we can stick out our necks as we head into the last part of 2021.
With COVID-19 cases steadily declining and vaccine rates slowly but surely going up, I figured it would be as good a time as any to take the temperature of downtown Aurora and see where things stand in the journey back to normal, which includes recapturing the mojo the city had been enjoying before the lockdown in March of 2020.
Even as I was rolling this idea around in my head, I got a call from Elle Withall, who I first met nearly three years ago when she was recruiting businesses in downtown Aurora as a member of the Invest Aurora staff.
Just a couple months before the pandemic hit, Withall left Aurora to become executive director of Downtown Wheaton Association, where she spearheaded so much enthusiasm during these unprecedented times that she and her group were honored as Wheaton’s 2021 Business of the Year.
Her talents couldn’t help but catch the eye of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, who a couple months ago hired her back to head up business recruitment and take on a lead downtown role with his Office of Economic Development.
The only female in that office and one of the city’s biggest cheerleaders, Withall was more than anxious to sit down recently and talk about the strong team the mayor had put together under Aurora Economic Development Director Dave Dibo, as well as highlight some of the positive news that highlights Aurora on the move again.
We also talked about what she was able to accomplish while leading over 120 Wheaton businesses through COVID-19, which included developing virus-safe events that generated close to $200,000 in business dollars and record sales.
“We had great success by doing a lot of great things,” Withall said, noting that much of the effort went in to rebranding the traditionally conservative downtown Wheaton to make it more hip, more modern.
“We closed down streets, put up tents, had a lot of fun events,” she said. “We went out and recruited new businesses. We figured out how to make it work.”
And people loved it, including Wheaton Mayor Phil Suess, who publicly praised Withall’s “creativity and perseverance” for turning the downtown into a “thriving destination.”
Few are more appreciative of those efforts than Roberto Avila, who opened one of his popular Altiro Latin Fusion restaurants in Wheaton in the summer of 2019 and not only managed to survive 2020 but to “thrive,” he told me, because of Withall’s aggressive marketing, particularly through social media.
Avila and wife Erika Villanueva also had an Altiro grand opening in Aurora exactly two weeks before the lockdown began. So he’s hoping lightning strikes twice and that business at their fifth tapas-style restaurant at the corner of Galena Boulevard and Stolp Avenue “continues to see a bigger following.”
“We love our location in downtown Aurora, and have put our heart and soul in it,” said Avila. “And now we need the community to come alongside us, and know that we made it through …”
Aurora is, of course, not Wheaton. But Withall sees the city’s more urban, diverse population as much an opportunity as a challenge. And she’s convinced that “you don’t have to reinvent the wheel” to repeat some of those same successes in this second largest city in the state that is “so rich with potential.”
For example, a “Margarita Pub Crawl” on a Saturday night that Avila said brought in more than 560 customers to his Wheaton restaurant alone can be recreated with “our own little party place on Stolp Island,” insisted Withall.
“We need to rebrand, recreate momentum and excitement,” she said, then quickly noted that because economic development is “very fluid and with so many moving parts,” it’s hard to put a timeline on things.
“Realistically, we want five new quality businesses built out by next year that are focused on what the community wants in downtown Aurora,” she told me. “We have space to fill, and we want to fill it with quality, intentional businesses that want to come here and succeed. And I’ve already got many lined up who are interested in doing just that.”
There certainly appears to be plenty of activity going on downtown, with more on the horizon. And I’m not just talking about the eight or so murals that have been created throughout the downtown area, including a 15-footer now being painted by internationally-renowned artist Judith de Leeuw of Amsterdam.
The historic Keystone Building, developed by Urban Equity Properties, now has apartments for rent. And other landmarks like the Hobbs and Terminal buildings are currently under redevelopment after decades of being dark.
The Paramount Theatre is also brightly lit again, winding up its first show of the season, with officials looking forward to the newly-renovated Copley Theatre’s November shows across the street at North Island Center.
Although COVID-19 mandates have affected audience sizes, Paramount President Tim Rater remains optimistic: “It’s going to take some time for our numbers to return to normal,” he said. “But I was encouraged by ‘Kinky Boots’ ticket sales. And pre-sales for ‘Cinderella’ are strong.”
That’s good news for Stolp Island Social restaurant, which had to shutter a few months after its grand opening late in 2019, then tied its reopening to the Paramount’s August comeback.
While much will depend on the ability to hire enough staff for this seasonal kitchen and steakhouse – labor shortage is an industry-wide problem – owner Amy Morton is targeting the day after Thanksgiving for a brand new start.
There are other positive signs, literally: MORA Asian Fusion has a large green ad on the Galena Boulevard construction fence outside its currently closed facility making sure the public knows what’s “Coming Soon” in its four phases that also include Italian cuisine, a steakhouse and speakeasy.
Also, just three weeks ago, French 75 Gallery & Lounge welcomed its first visitors to this craft cocktail bar and art gallery on Galena Boulevard with its “Parisian feel” ambiance. And owner Hope Ashwood could not be more pleased with the welcome she’s received so far.
“We’ve had the most beautiful diverse crowd, which I love,” she said. “The compliment I get most is that it’s very intimate, very warm. People don’t feel like they are in Aurora but in another time, in another world in the 1920s.”
Other art galleries and retail shops are also finding their way through perseverance and a strong support network. For example, Wyckwood House, a clothing and lifestyle boutique offering creations from local artisans on Downer Place, was not only able to survive the pandemic but opened a second site in downtown Wheaton.
Shannon Gutierrez says it was a surprisingly robust online business, thanks to “incredible community support,” that allowed her to do so well during these challenging times. And the reason she rolled the dice and decided to open a second site on Hale Street in Wheaton last October when virus numbers were surging, she told me, was because she saw how “therapeutic” the Aurora store was for so many people.
“They would walk through the door and say they were ‘in my happy place.’ They could touch and feel and smell and buy something special to make themselves or others feel better,” Gutierrez said. “We saw that as so magical, why not bring it to another community.”
In fact, the Aurora business is doing so well that Wyckwood House will be moving to a new location on River and Benton streets that will nearly double its square footage and add a cocktail lounge with more space to host events.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to be more than a retail store,” Gutierrez said of the new site that should be open in late winter or early spring. “It’s really fun to see it coming together.”
That last statement could just as easily have come from Withall, who “is back” in Aurora “more enthusiastic than ever.”
While COVID-19 was hard on so many businesses, “what we learned in that process was to ask ourselves, how do we become more resilient and solve the problem,” she said. “COVID was a huge learning experience but also a time for opportunity.”
Unfortunately, Withall did not escape its darkest side. Even while leading businesses through the pandemic, she lost her 72-year-old father, a retired history teacher living in her Missouri hometown, to the coronavirus in January.
Grateful she was able to spend time with him before his death, Withall says there’s not a day that goes by when she’s not thinking about him or talking about her dad.
“Everything good in me came from him,” she said. “And I want to work every day to take those things and make a positive impact in my work.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
