The Aurora City Council has approved the final major contract related to the RiverEdge Park renovation, which is set to be completed by the end of May.
RiverEdge was closed during the 2025 summer concert season because of the renovation work but is planned to again hosts concerns this summer, including the recently-announced Beach Boys concert in August. Many of the changes were designed to help attract bigger acts than the park was able to accommodate in the past.
The ongoing work is expected to increase the capacity of the city-owned park by about 2,500 people, with current capacity at about 7,300 for events and 6,500 for concerts, officials have said. A new backstage building, a new beverage pavilion, a new restroom building and a new south gate entry are also being added to the park.
The contract recently approved by City Council, which staff previously said was the last significant thing needed for the renovation, is to upgrade the park’s sound system at a cost of nearly $320,000. The contract with Ayre Productions includes both the purchase of the sound equipment and its installation.
The equipment is needed to use the back area of the park, where the renovation is expanding towards, since it is further away from the park’s stage, city staff have said.
The Aurora City Council approved the contract on Tuesday evening as a part of that meeting’s consent agenda, which is typically reserved for non-controversial or routine items that are all approved with a single vote, so aldermen did not specifically talk about it at the time.
Kurt Muth of the city’s Public Works Department, at a meeting of the Aurora City Council’s Infrastructure and Technology Committee late last month, said Ayre Productions’ bid for the project came in under what he projected.
In October, the Aurora City Council approved the purchase of two new jumbotrons at a cost of just over $534,000, which was also to improve the back area of the park. The screens were planned to be installed in the grassy area beyond the beverage pavilion so there would be more places for people to sit during concerts.
The jumbotron purchase saw some pushback as the city faced financial troubles and staffing cuts.
But last month, the City Council unanimously approved a $307,000 contract to buy furniture for the park, which received none of the public pushback the jumbotron purchase saw. The recently-approved contract for the sound equipment also saw no public pushback.
RiverEdge Park is owned by the city of Aurora but managed by the Aurora Civic Center Authority. That organization also manages the city-owned Stolp Island Theatre, and it owns the Paramount Theatre, the Copley Theatre, Paramount School of the Arts and North Island Center.
For more information about the park and its upcoming summer concerts, or to buy tickets, go to: paramountaurora.com/riveredge/
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
