Race date is April 27, 2014 and time is 8 AM at RiverEdge Park.

Register By April 13th To Receive A Discount

$15 – Youth Rate (18 & under)

Adult Pre-registration
$35 – Jan 1-Mar 31, 2014
$40 – April 1-13, 2014
$45 – Adult Race Day Registration

Here is our second installment on the historical buildings and sites you will see along the race route at the 2nd 2 None 5K Run & Walk, from who built them to how they were built, etc.

“The Pride of Any City” – Aurora’s old Central Fire Station. The fire station was built in 1894 at a cost of $10,000. It was designed by a local architect and was typical of the Victorian-time with its unique bay windows, the decorative cornice and the “onion dome”. After the building was completed, the newspaper wrote, “The beautiful and commodious building stands completed, a model of its kind.  In respect to cost, finish, appearance, convenience and good taste, there is nothing additional to wish for. The building might be the pride of any city”.

Through the years the fire station underwent several changes to keep pace with the changing times and technologies.  The building’s eight horse stalls were removed when the horse-drawn fire engines were replaced with motorized trucks;
the hayloft was converted to a kitchen and recreation area for the firefighters; concrete floors replaced wooden floors to better support the weight of the motorized fire engines and the onion dome and bay windows were removed in 1943.  By the late 1970’s, the fire department had outgrown the old Central Fire Station and in 1981 a new fire department was built on North Broadway adjacent to the old station.

For more history on the fire station, click here.
(information taken from the Aurora Regional Fire Museum-brief history of the Aurora Fire Department)
Another interesting piece of history you will see on the run/walk is the New York Street Memorial Bridge. Built in an Art Moderne “Depression Era” motif in 1931, this is the only bridge that retains its original design.  Residents at that time proposed that the new bridge incorporate a veteran’s memorial, so the city hired Emory Seidel and Karl Miller to design and sculpt a suitable memorial.
They redesigned the entire bridge as a memorial, rather than designing a plaque or statue.  There is a bronze statue of “Victory” in the center of the span, decorated in low relief and flanked with bronze eagles and two cast concrete pairs of kneeling statues, representing “Memory”, located at both ends on each side of the bridge.  The other memorial niche is on the opposite side of the bridge and it includes a bronze plaque.  The bridge was dedicated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1931, as a memorial to World War I veterans.  Unlike the other bridges on Stolp Island, the New York Street bridge spans the entire channel of the Fox River.

If you would like to see more of Aurora’s beautiful, historic buildings, join us for the 2nd 2 None 5K Run & Walk, which steps off at 8 AM from the new RiverEdge Park in downtown Aurora. Participants will run through the beautiful park, along the streets of historic downtown Aurora and finish along the Fox River Trail in RiverEdge Park.  Click here to view the course map.

Race day registration cost will be $45.00.  Pre-register now to receive a discount; the earlier you register the better the discount!

If you aren’t able to run or walk in the race, how about volunteering?  We need people to cheer on the runners, pass out water at multiple stations, plus many more exciting ways to be involved.  For more information, click here.

Sincerely,

Theresa Shoemaker – Executive Director, Communities In Schools
Marilyn H. Weisner – Executive Director, Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry