Leland Tower

Leland Tower is a twenty-two story tall building on Stolp Island in Aurora, Illinois. Leland Tower was at one point the tallest building in Illinois outside of Chicago. Stolp Island is recognized as a Historical District by the National Register of Historical Places.

Leland Tower
LocationAurora, Illinois, USA
Coordinates41°45′29″N 88°18′55″W
Built1928
Part ofStolp Island Historic District (ID86001487)
Added to NRHPSeptember 10, 1986

Leland Tower was built initially as a hotel. The Leland Hotel project was conceived in 1926 and was one of the most ambitious projects in the city's history. The project was announced by an organization known as the Aurora Building Corporation through Herbert P. Heiss of the First Illinois Company. Mr. Heiss had located and purchased the site for the proposed hotel. The building contract was awarded to the H.G. Christman Company, general contractors of South Bend, Indiana and Detroit, Michigan. Anker Sveere Graven and Arthur Guy Mayger were chosen to design the hotel.

The Aurora-Leland Hotel had all the modern amenities of the time, including telephones in every room. Topping this skyscraper was the Sky Club, a dinner and dancing club outfitted with elaborate decor and furnishings of the highest quality. The views from the Sky Club as well as its elegance made it a place to see and be seen by local socialites. "Swanks" from Chicago thought the Sky Club a fun place to take their dates. Philip K. Wrigley, fan dancer Sally Rand, and the singing cowboy Gene Autry are some of the famous names seen there. Recordings were made there by such famous blues musicians as John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson.

In the 1960s, the times and the economy caused the hotel once known as "The Aurora-Leland Hotel", the "Illinois Hotel" and the "Leland Hotel" to stop operations. The tower subsequently housed microwave transmitter link of defunct WLXT-TV Channel 60, an Aurora TV station which signed on in 1969. It was on the air afternoons, evenings and weekends. It also served as the transmitter site of 107.9 WAUR-FM.

The tower is also known for being a popular spot for committing suicide. Many have taken their own life by jumping off the 22 story tower into the river below.

Leland Tower is also known locally for its elaborate holiday decorations, including an 8-story tall shooting star and Christmas tree on the roof.

Images
  • View from the East side
  • View from the West side
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References

The Aurora Beacon News, February 7, 1928 The Aurora Beacon News, August 23, 1984

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