Aurora residents displaced for days after downtown apartment building exterior crumbles

AURORA, Ill. (WLS) -- Some Aurora residents are still displaced, after bricks fell off their apartment building this weekend.

The westbound lanes of traffic remain closed on Galena Boulevard, between Broadway and La Salle Street in Aurora, but city officials said it's a precautionary measure.

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While the building's facade will need to be repaired, the structure itself is sound. Meaning those residents and businesses displaced Saturday night should be able to return within the next day or two.

It's been two days since the facade of 100 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora began to crumble, leading to a hasty evacuation.

"I contacted the landlord to let him know. He was contacting everybody in the building, tenants to let them know, if they're inside, we need to get you guys out," witness Lorenzo Johnson said.

Since then, city officials have been hard at work, determining the structural integrity of the building.

The building's owner said they have been taking care of the 15 residents that live there, making sure they have a place to stay, while a rear entrance is enabled for their return. Two businesses, a barbershop and a record store, remain closed.

"They did immediately, voluntarily relocate people to hotels while they inconvenienced and put out. That is our policy that we enforce that is required as part of our ordinance, they are required to do when they can't properly house people or a structure becomes unsafe," Aurora Director of Development Services Josh Ream said.

Ream said what happened is happening to a lesser extent at other downtown buildings. He said age and outdated construction codes are to blame. Fortunately, he says, no one was injured Saturday, and the building will need a facade repair, but nothing more.

"As soon as the scaffolding is back up, they should be able to reopen. So, I'm hoping within 48 hours, shouldn't be later than end of the week," Ream said.

Officials said the building had a similar issue on its western facade when it was under different ownership.

But, they said that it was repaired, and the current owner, who is out of town, has been quick to fix any issues that have come up during their annual inspections.