Scaffolding and part of a brick building's exterior wall came down into a downtown Aurora roadway Wednesday evening, closing the Broadway and Galena Boulevard intersection in all four directions.
Aurora police and firefighters were called to the 100 block of East Galena Boulevard at about 6:37 p.m., FOX 32 Chicago reported. The building was emptied as a precaution. At the time authorities spoke with reporters, no injuries had been reported and no one had needed emergency shelter.
A Drone On The Upper Floors
The collapse put debris in the street at North Broadway and East Galena, the corner Mayor John Laesch identified in video he showed of the scene. ABC7 Chicago reported that the mayor's video showed the partial collapse, with emergency crews at the building. Officials said firefighters evacuated people from inside.
WGN-TV reported that crews were using a drone to look at the upper portion of the building. Authorities were still trying to determine what brought the scaffolding and wall down.
FOX 32 said initial reports indicated vehicles were beneath the debris. That early account did not establish whether anyone was under the rubble, or whether any vehicle was damaged.
Four Directions Closed
WGN reported that Broadway and Galena Boulevard was closed in every direction and that drivers were asked to stay away from the intersection. How long that closure would last was not part of the Wednesday-night accounts.
The practical picture, as of those reports, was a precautionary evacuation, a drone overhead, and a downtown corner taken out of the grid while the cause remained open.
Earlier Brick Falls, Separate Buildings
Downtown Aurora has had falling brick on this boulevard before. Those incidents were reported as separate events, and nothing in the Wednesday accounts established that this was the same building.
On Aug. 2, 2025, the city received reports of bricks coming off the building at 102 and 104 East Galena Boulevard, the Chicago Tribune reported. About 200 bricks fell from the face. A city development official said the damage did not appear structural, and no injuries were reported. Eleven apartments and two businesses were evacuated. By that Monday, the Tribune reported, the road and sidewalk were still closed.
In 2019, bricks fell from the nearby Elmslie Building on the southwest corner of Galena and Broadway, and no one was hurt, the Tribune noted in that later story. On Feb. 20, 2019, Aurora police closed a portion of eastbound Galena Boulevard around 7:45 p.m. after the facade collapse at that corner, the Chicago Tribune reported then.
Wednesday's closure was broader than that 2019 eastbound stretch: all four approaches were shut while crews worked the 100 block. The cause of this collapse had not been determined.
