Aurora held its annual State of the City event Feb. 26 at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center, where Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin was one of the featured speakers.
Womer Benjamin highlighted Dec. 20, 2024, the day Aurora gained ownership of the 53-acre Geauga Lake and 47 acres adjacent to it. She’d been working on the acquisition for a decade: rezoning the park land, negotiating a Joint Economic Development District agreement with Bainbridge, working with ICP Geauga Lake LLC to ensure lake access and finally buying the property outright.
“As we discussed options for that property, the more I thought about it, the more I feared construction of possibly hundreds of homes along the shore of that beautiful lake—so we bought the land instead to control its future and preserve it for the benefit of our residents for years to come. This is perhaps one of the best ways to protect our community,” she said.
The city intends to create Aurora Park at Geauga Lake on the south shore of Geauga Lake. The park will one day feature water amenities, a pool, recreational options, trails and meeting spaces.
Aurora intends to retain the two gatehouses from SeaWorld and Wildwater Kingdom, refurbishing them to use as the entrance to the new park. SeaWorld’s old aquarium building may not be salvageable, but the city hopes to recreate it into an open-air pavilion with restrooms, concessions and attractive community space overlooking the water.
“We also expect to restore the dock that juts into the water for boating and envision a parks-themed play space for kids to enjoy,” she said.
Park construction will proceed in phases and may take years to complete, she said.
Aurora has done more than spend $4.5 million on the one park. To enhance connectivity, preserve green space and protect land from development, the city has strategically acquired more than 250 acres in the past 11 years.
“As my Law Director Dean DePiero often tells me, you can best control what happens to land if you own it,” Womer Benjamin said.
She also spoke of Aurora Trail, soon to be built on the former Norfolk Southern Railroad property that bisects the city. FirstEnergy owns the land and wanted to build transmission towers in the right of way. Aurora’s city leaders objected and ended up with a permanent recreational easement along the former railroad corridor.
“This year, we are building phase one of the trail, a 2.8-mile, paved, 10-foot wide, multi-use path from [Route] 82 in the Station District in Aurora to Chamberlain Road in Mantua,” she said. “The vistas along the right of way are just beautiful, promising a scenic and popular trail for enthusiasts.”
Womer Benjamin spent the bulk of her microphone time thanking federal, state and local public servants, naming and honoring those who attended the event. Her voice broke as she spoke of her late husband David Benjamin, who passed away in July. He was a lifelong public servant, working with the county prosecutor’s office, counseling clients he saw in his private law practice, teaching at Hiram College and two law schools, and heading the city’s law department.
Perhaps inspired by him, their youngest daughter also chose a life of public service and Womer Benjamin herself entered politics, gaining a seat as a state representative and then focusing for the last 13 years on the local level.
“Thank you, David, for your inspiring example and endless support to your family and the community,” she said.
Womer Benjamin encouraged attendees not to malign, disparage or carelessly dismiss public servants, who often work in anonymity.
“They are deeply committed to their service for the benefit of all of us, handling the many daily tasks on our behalf that might be menial, inconvenient, dangerous, difficult and even thankless,” she said.
Turning her attention to local projects, Womer Benjamin said the city in 2024 implemented a $2.6 million FEMA stormwater project in the Geauga Lake neighborhood to help mitigate stormwater impacts there. Aurora did not borrow funds to complete the project, she said.
Additional projects Womer Benjamin highlighted were:
- A new sidewalk on New Hudson Road, which will enhance access to the Aurora Trail
- Paving East Pioneer Trail with the help of a state grant
- Spending $1.6 million on the city’s annual road paving program
- $9 million in improvements at Aurora’s Central Wastewater Treatment Plant in the last few years
- Replacing the city’s last century-old water line on Maple Lane
During her tenure as mayor, Womer Benjamin noted Aurora had gained more than three miles of new sidewalks.
None of the projects would be possible without a sound financial foundation, she said, crediting city Finance Director Tim Clymer and his team and Economic Development Director Holly Harris Bane.
Expansions in the city’s Industrial Park last year included Advanced Innovation Manufacturing, LayerZero and Pyrotek, which altogether added more than 100 new employees. Another business, Phoenix Corporation, moved from Twinsburg. The industrial park now has 40 companies and more than 8,000 employees, Womer Benjamin said.
Other businesses new to Aurora are Atlas Cinemas, Foot Spa, LuCha, Wrap City restaurant and El Granero restaurant. Goddard School recently held its grand opening, Senior Helpers opened in the Converse/Hurd building and Good Nature Therapy built its new facility on East Garfield Road. The Aurora Inn restaurant reopened as 56 Tavern, and Sand Pebbles moved locations, she said.
Womer Benjamin also reviewed the city’s moratorium on applications for permits for vape, e-cigarette, smoke and tobacco shops, and shops that sell any product related to CBD, cannabidiol oils or edibles. A consultant is examining the city’s zoning code to recommend updates on this and other issues, she said.
Fire and EMS calls have increased by about 45% since 2014, creating occasional critical readiness gaps. With economic realities making the search for qualified employees more difficult, the city is moving toward an all full-time department, she said. AFD added one new firefighter/paramedic position in 2024; two more are budgeted for this year.
“No one in this community should have to wait more than a few minutes for emergency services to arrive,” she said.
Womer Benjamin credited Aurora’s low crime rate on Chief Brian Byard’s insistence on using “the latest tools in technology to to prevent crime and to solve those that might occur,” she said. Byard also has a standing directive for every street in the city to be patrolled at least four days a week, and the city’s schools have two resource officers.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.