Locksmith Services in Aurora, IL

Homes and locks in Aurora

The Fox River divides Aurora. The West Side lies west of the river, the East Side runs to the DuPage County line, and the Far East Side, also called Fox Valley, lies beyond it. Development on the Far East Side began in the late 1970s and early 1980s along Eola Road and Route 59.

Tanner has been a locally designated historic district since 1998. Its listed houses, dated 1853 to 1931, stand on streets such as Oak Avenue, View Street, Park Avenue and Lake Street, in styles from Italianate to Tudor Revival.

Riddle Highlands was platted in 1922 on a former driving park. The district, which includes Lawndale, Sunset and Grand avenues, is noted for Period Revival homes such as English Cottage and Dutch Colonial Revival; its listing also includes ranches from 1949 and 1952.

Businesses and buildings

Downtown centers on Stolp Island in the Fox River. The city's Stolp Island Historic District listing includes the 1931 Paramount Theatre at 23 E. Galena Boulevard and the 22-story Leland Tower at 7 S. Stolp Avenue, a 1928 former hotel that was the tallest building in Illinois outside Chicago.

For a commercial locksmith request in one of these older buildings, list each door involved: storefront, rear service door or upper-floor entrance.

Car trouble in Aurora

Aurora averages 27.9 inches of snow a year. City code Section 27-171(a) bars parking on a public street or alley during or after a snowfall of 2 inches or more until it is plowed or cleared, and a street is not considered plowed until the lane nearest the curb is done.

Under Section 27-171(b), police may move a violating vehicle that obstructs traffic or creates an unsafe condition to a public garage or other safe place, at the owner's or operator's expense. If your car is missing after a storm, check whether it was moved before arranging car key replacement.

Aurora's Route 59 Metra station sits on the Naperville border, and each city keeps a parking lot on its own side of the tracks, so for a car lockout there, say which lot the car is in.

Local rules worth knowing

Under Section 37-81 of the Aurora Municipal Code, a Certificate of Appropriateness is needed before alteration, exterior construction or exterior demolition of a local landmark or a property in a locally designated historic district. The city's application form lists exterior doors among the changes it covers, so check with the city before replacing an entry door in Tanner or another designated district. Lock rekeying leaves the existing door in place.

The city's pre-inspection guide for landlords says every non-owner-occupied dwelling needs a rental or vacant license, with the annual fee due August 31. Its checklist includes:

• exterior doors without defects, working and weather-tight
• multi-family unit doors meeting security and fire requirements, including self-closers, smoke gaskets, door and frame labels, and approved hardware
• interior doors that fully open, close and latch
• a self-closing device on the door from an attached garage into the dwelling
• the key to access the building kept in a lock box

A unit door that no longer latches is a lock repair to handle before inspection. This is general information, not legal advice.

Requesting service in Aurora

Illinois Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Aurora. Say which side of the river you are on or the nearest cross streets, the building type and the door involved; for a house lockout, say whether the door from an attached garage is also locked. See also Illinois and nearby Naperville.