Renovated Aurora City Council Chambers Dedicated To Late Alderwoman

AURORA, IL — The Aurora City Council Chambers have been dedicated to the late Alderwoman Scheketa Hart-Burns, who served in the position for 32 years before she died last year from surgery complications.

Mayor Richard Irvin honored the former Ward 7 alderwoman on Thursday during a grand reopening ceremony that marked the completion of the newly renovated chambers.

After a year of work, the chambers now include modern technology for more efficient communications and livestreaming, a redesigned dias, an audience attendance area with multiple screens, a staff seating area and an entrance foyer. The project cost $1.7 million to complete.

"Today, we bless this brand new era in the City of Aurora, and we bless it with Scheketa Hart-Burns looking down on us from on high," Irvin said.

Hart-Burns was first elected in 1991, becoming the first Black person elected to the Aurora City Council. She served Ward 7 until her death on June 19, 2023.

Her family attended the event, with her granddaughter, Xaviour, ringing the ceremonial bell, and her widowed husband, Bill Burns, joining Irvin to unveil the plaque that will reside in the foyer.