And just like that, another 365 days have come and gone.
While we once again cycle out calendars, regroup and rally together a revamped list of resolutions, it’s hard not to note that time seems to fly by — but not without making its mark.
As we anticipate the new year, here are the Naperville stories that encapsulate 2024, as decided by the Naperville Sun.
The election
Countrywide, one of the most consequential moments of 2024 was the presidential election and Donald Trump’s ascendancy to the White House for the second time. But locally, it was the state and county races that really defined the election year.
Between DuPage and Will counties, nearly 800,000 local registered voters cast their ballots in the Nov. 5 general election.
In perhaps the biggest local surprise of the night, three-term DuPage County Coroner Richard Jorgensen was ousted by Democratic challenger Judith Lukas. Meanwhile, Democrats added to their majority on the DuPage County Board, flipping one seat in their favor on the 18-member body.
In November’s wake, experts and observers found that DuPage — once a Republican stronghold — now definitely leans left.
Local offices aside, the election also decided the fate of several requests from area taxing districts. Thanks to sweeping support from voters, the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is able to tax households at a higher rate in 2025 to buy more land and maintain what it already owns. Likewise, Indian Prairie School District got the go ahead to sell up to $420 million in bonds to pay for facility improvements.
A year of construction
If you drove through Naperville in 2024, chances are you ran into construction.
Amid a myriad of planned projects, the city’s roadwork pièce de résistance was a months-long overhaul of Washington Street from Chicago to Benton avenues. Going into 2025, what’s left of improvements is the replacement of the city’s Washington Street bridge, which is estimated to finish by May or June.
Meanwhile, over the summer, crews worked to clear the property Route 59 and Aurora Avenue to make way for Block 59, the large dining and entertainment development expected to open in Naperville by September or October.
Revolving business scene
It seemed like every month, one business — or several — closed while others opened in Naperville. The year opened with news that Barnes & Noble would be closing its downtown location at 47. E Chicago Ave. after 25 years. Almost exactly a year later, Barnes & Noble announced its return to Naperville with a new bookstore in the works for 9 W. Jackson Ave.
In between, Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant shuttered its doors after 46 years but reopened a tavern offshoot months later. BD’s Mongolian Grill, Firecakes Donuts, Taps N Tenders, Ulta Beauty, Fire It Up Taco Fusion Grill, Aurelio’s Pizza, Houlihan’s and Aloha Poke closed for good. AltaVida launched in the spring only to seemingly close by the fall.
All the while, openings likewise abounded. New arrivals — already open or on the way — spanned Insomnia Cookies, Wells Fargo, Fidelity Investments, Naperville’s first Chick-fil-A, The Picklr, a Wayfair outlet and Abercrombie & Fitch.
Ribfest ends permanently
After 35 years, the Exchange Club of Naperville announced in late July that Naperville Ribfest would be no more. The same day the club announced the end of Ribfest, it filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy, as did its associated charitable branch.
Court documents listed the two entities as owing more than $370,000 to 19 unsecured creditors at the time of initial bankruptcy. Concurrently, the Exchange Club of Naperville — established in 1987 — discontinued any and all operations.
Community members lost
From local legends to prominent business figures, several Naperville residents died in 2024.
In January, Ron Keller, who led the Naperville Municipal Band for 57 years, died at 84 while in palliative care. His friends, former students and colleagues described him as welcoming, joyful, passionate, inspiring and a lover of trains.
A month later, the Naperville Municipal Band lost another legacy: longtime concert moderator Ann G. Lord.
In April, Naperville Central High School freshman Alex Beiga died in an avalanche near the Swiss resort of Zermatt. He was 15. His sister Eva remembered Alex as adventurous, someone that could always make her laugh and her built-in best friend.
In July, prominent Naperville businessman and philanthropist Richard “Dick” Wehrli died at 90 years old.
And in October, Hilary Decent, who wrote for the Naperville Sun as both a reporter and a columnist on and off for more than 15 years, died after a short battle with cancer. She was 67.
A council divided
Though not often at odds, discord on occasion erupted among the Naperville City Council.
At the outset of 2024, Councilman Josh McBroom suggested that Naperville families could host migrant families to help alleviate the influx of asylum-seekers to the Chicago area. When the idea was dropped less than a month later — as McBroom reported hearing no interest in his suggestion — the whole ordeal incited pushback from community and fellow council members alike, who questioned whether McBroom’s intentions had been sincere.
Council members Benny White and Jennifer Bruzan Taylor quarrelled over the city allocating grant funding to an organization where White had familial ties.
In a narrow 5-4 vote, the council decided to create an affordable housing catalog in lieu of an incentive program for developers that had been years in the making.
And as Naperville grapples with the future of its electric supply, the council decided not to hire two energy consultants despite staff insisting that they needed the help. However, a few months later, members voted 6-3 to award a portion of the contract work.
Public art reimagined
Naperville used this past year to rethink how public art in town is created and maintained.
For 27 years, the task of soliciting and producing public art in Naperville had been the work of local independent organization, Century Walk Corp. But when the organization’s longtime president Brand Bobosky announced that he’d be retiring by the end of 2024, the city started to chart a new path forward.
The city landed on bringing public art under the auspices of a newly established public-private partnership.
Wrongful death settlement
A federal jury in August ordered Naperville to pay millions in damages for the wrongful conviction of William Amor, a Naperville man who spent 22 years in prison for the 1995 murder of his mother-in-law — a crime he was later found not to have committed.
The judgment was the culmination of more than five years of litigation over a suit that Amor had filed against the city and several of its police officers in 2018.
To resolve the matter, the council approved a $25.5 million settlement and release agreement.
Topgolf arrests pile up
Gun-related arrests made in the parking lot of Naperville’s Topgolf facility at 3211 Odyssey Court persisted and piled up. The trend had police making similar busts again and again.
Officers, typically on a foot patrol, would spot a firearm in plain view inside a vehicle parked outside Topgolf. They’d set up surveillance, wait for the owner to return and, if that firearm was illegally possessed, make an arrest. The last reported similar arrest was in late October. It was the 25th such arrest since August 2023.
Cicadas converge
For the first time in more than two centuries, two broods of cicadas converged on Illinois at the same time. The last time this had happened was in 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president.
One local family basked in the rare co-emergence. Wanting the insects to feel welcome, the Tarrants created a bonafide cicada oasis in the front lawn of their Naperville home.
Honorable mentions
Here are few more stories that also made for memorable headlines:
- DuPage County Clerk sued, files counter suit
- Naperville unveils $100k welcome sign
- Beidelman Furniture dubbed a historic landmark
- Naperville residents attend, capture Democratic National Convention
- North Central College president leaves after just a year on the job
- Naperville native wins soccer gold at Paris Olympics
