aurora regional fire museum

What aurora regional fire museum does

The Aurora Regional Fire Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum operating from Aurora, Illinois' historic 1894 Old Central Fire Station at 53 N Broadway. It preserves regional firefighting heritage through two floors of exhibits housing over 1,000 artifacts, 2,000 photographs, and a historically significant apparatus collection (1850s Button-Hand Pumper through 1948 American LaFrance). The museum serves a diversified audience: families with children on walk-in visits (~$5 admission), K-12 school groups on field trips ($6–$10 per student), Cub/Boy/Girl Scout troops earning badges ($10–$20), private event renters (Hayloft Theatre at $100/hour, $250 birthday packages), and high school students in a free CPR/AED/fire-extinguisher program funded by the Dunham Foundation.

Revenue is earned across admissions, group programs, facility rentals, gift-shop sales, a multi-tier annual membership program, and recurring fundraising events including a 600-ticket bourbon raffle and Community Hero Day, supplemented by grants from Landmarks Illinois, Illinois Humanities, and the Dunham Foundation. The museum is governed by a board of up to 15 directors and led by Executive Director Brian Failing with Board President Karen Yaggie, supported by a small staff (1–10 employees) and an extensive partner ecosystem anchored by the Aurora Fire Department, local schools, Waubonsee Community College, First Alert as presenting sponsor, and Brooking Park Zoo.

Strategic momentum in 2025–2026 includes the November 2025 opening of the award-winning 'Safety at Play: A Firefighter's Adventure' immersive children's exhibit, the launch of the high-school Practical Fire & Life Skills program, and receipt of two 2026 Illinois Association of Museums honors (Small Institution of the Year and Award of Super Achievement for exhibits) alongside a 2025 Corporate Responsibility Award from the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance.

Name

aurora regional fire museum

Legal name

Aurora Regional Fire Museum

Website

https://auroraregionalfiremuseum.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Aurora Regional Fire Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit operating from Aurora, Illinois' 1894 Old Central Fire Station, preserving regional firefighting history through artifact-based exhibits and delivering fire-safety education to families, K-12 schools, scout troops, and community event audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

History Museum

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

History Museums (THAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialty Museums (e.g., Maritime, Aviation, Sports, Music, Film) (THAJADAF)

Keywords

• Firefighting history museum
• Fire safety education
• Scout badge programs
• Educational field trips
• Event venue rentals

Headquarters

HQ city

Aurora

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Admission Fees: Public admission fees of $5 per person ages 3 and up. Children 2 and under admitted free.
2. Facility Rentals: Hayloft Theatre rental at $100 per hour with 2-hour minimum. Birthday party packages at $250. Full building rentals available.
3. Group Tours and Programs: Structured tours and educational programs for schools, scouts, and groups at various price points ($6-$20 per person depending on program)
4. Membership: Annual membership program with benefits including free admission to member-only events, discounted program rates, and gift shop discounts.
5. Special Events and Raffles: Bourbon raffle ($25 per ticket or 5 for $100), meat raffles, paranormal events ($30 members/$35 non-members), and fundraiser tickets ($35 including chili, dessert, beer ticket, and gift)
6. Gift Shop Sales: Hose Tower Gift Shop selling merchandise including holiday ornaments ($20 each or 2 for $35), memorabilia, and fire safety items.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Aurora Regional Fire Museum preserves regional firefighting heritage through museum tours, exhibits, and educational programming. Operated from Aurora's historic Old Central Fire Station (built 1894), the museum offers guided and self-guided tours, school and scout educational programs, birthday party and event venue rentals, hands-on fire safety exhibits, the Practical Fire & Life Skills certification program, and community events. Revenue is generated through admissions, memberships, program fees, facility rentals, gift shop sales, fundraising events (raffles), and grants/donations.

Product overview

The Aurora Regional Fire Museum operates as a single-site visitor attraction and regional museum (not a software platform) housed in Aurora's historic Old Central Fire Station. The museum's offerings center on physical visitor experiences: museum admission with guided and self-guided tours exploring the history of the Aurora Fire Department and fire safety; group tours and field trips for organized visitors including school groups with activity add-ons; scout badge programs for youth organizations; birthday party and venue rentals of the Hayloft Theatre event space; and the Practical Fire & Life Skills program providing CPR and first aid certification to high school students. The museum maintains permanent exhibits including 'Getting There, Getting Water, Getting Rescued,' the Children's Discovery Room, and the Aurora Goodwin Room, plus rotating temporary exhibits such as 'Safety at Play' and 'America United.' Core programs are complemented by the annual Community Hero Day event, a gift shop, and fundraising activities including bourbon raffles and holiday ornament sales.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Museum Tours Guided and self-guided tours of two floors of exhibits covering the history of the Aurora Fire Department, regional firefighting heritage, and fire safety education. Pricing starts at $5 general admission, $6 per person for guided/self-guided tour, with activity and presentation add-on packages.
• Educational Field Trips Structured educational group visits for K-12 schools including tour packages with hands-on activities such as fire helmet coloring, first-aid kit creation, fire safety storytime, and team scavenger hunts. Priced $6-$10 per person based on package.
• Scout Badge Programs Badge-earning programs for youth scouts including Tiger Elective Adventure: Safe and Smart, Wolf Elective Adventures, Webelos Adventure: First Responder, and Build My Own Hero. Priced $10-$20 per scout; minimum 8, maximum 20 scouts.
• History Presentations Educational presentations covering topics such as The Great Chicago Fire, History of Firefighting in Aurora, 10 Fires That Shaped History, Architecture of Firehouses, and Preserving Family History. $10 per person with 1.5-hour format.
• Birthday Party Packages Firefighting-themed birthday party packages held in the Hayloft Theatre, including 2-hour rental, customizable invitations, group photo in the 1921 Stutz fire engine, BOGO coupons, and optional activities like firefighting games and slime making. Flat rate of $250.
• Hayloft Theatre Rentals Event venue rental featuring tiered seating for 60 in cushioned seats, suitable for workshops, presentations, and meetings. Rental rate is $100 per hour with a two-hour minimum, including nonprofit rates.
• Full Building Rentals Private event rental of the entire museum facility, suitable for unique weddings or photography sessions.
• Practical Fire & Life Skills and Pathways in Museums Free hands-on program for high school students providing CPR, First Aid, and AED certification, fire extinguisher training, and exploration of museum career pathways. Delivered in partnership with DobroSKILLS (Red Cross Licensed Training Provider) and funded by the Dunham Foundation. Participants receive a $20 Amazon Gift Card upon completion.
• Essential Stories: Firefighting in a Pandemic Online and physical exhibit collecting and presenting experiences of firefighters working during the COVID-19 pandemic, funded by Illinois Humanities.
• Safety at Play: A Firefighter's Adventure Hands-on children's exhibit inviting kids to roleplay as firefighters through immersive imaginative play, anchored by a child-sized fire station and fire engine. Winner of 2026 Award of Super Achievement (Exhibits) from Illinois Association of Museums.
• Getting There, Getting Water, Getting Rescued: 150 Years of Tools and Technology Main permanent gallery exhibit chronicling 150 years of firefighting tools and technology.
• Staying Safe Exhibit Hands-on exhibit exploring various areas of home and life safety, bringing fire safety to the forefront through interactive displays.
• America United: The Days After 9/11 Traveling exhibit created by Children's Museum in Oak Lawn exploring the national response to September 11, 2001, featuring two steel beams from the World Trade Center and interactive reflection tables.
• Community Hero Day Annual free family-friendly event featuring touch-a-truck, fire truck rides, live fire demonstrations, CPR training, safety education booths, and community partner interactions. Presented by First Alert.
• 2026 Bourbon Raffle Annual fundraising raffle with 13 prize packages of bourbon bottles. Tickets are $25 each or 5 for $100, with a maximum of 600 tickets sold. Winners drawn at Tavern on Broadway in September 2026.
• Hose Tower Gift Shop On-site museum store and online Square store selling fire-themed merchandise, holiday ornaments ($20 each or 2 for $35), and memorabilia.
• Annual Membership Program Annual museum membership program providing free admission to member-only events, discounted program rates, and gift shop discounts.
• Group Tours General museum visits for groups with programs and activities for all ages and abilities, covering fire history and safety education.

Quantifiable outcome

• 10,000+ annual visitors
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 October 2025Conducts live fire demonstrations at Community Hero Day showcasing fire spread and sprinkler effectiveness. Partnership enhances fire safety education impact through practical demonstrations.
• Waubonsee Community CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 September 2025Collaboration on First Responder Career Fair hosting. College provides venue at downtown Aurora campus and participates in educational panels about fire science, healthcare, and criminal justice programs. Partnership exposes career seekers to educational pathways in fire service.
• DobroSKILLScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2025American Red Cross Licensed Training Provider. Leads CPR and first aid training at the museum. Partners on Practical Fire & Life Skills program for high school students. Provides hands-only CPR training during Community Hero Day events.
• Children's Museum in Oak LawnminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 3 June 2025Created traveling exhibit 'America United: The Days After 9/11' hosted at the museum June-September 2025. Includes timeline, interactive tables, and two steel beams from World Trade Center.
• Aurora Downtown DistrictminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartners on community events including Kids Krew. Downtown district promotes museum presence and events to local businesses and residents.
• First AlertcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPresenting sponsor for Community Hero Day. Brand sponsorship enables free community event. Also supported Seventh Annual Community Hero Day as presenting sponsor.
• Nickelodeon / Association of Children's MuseumsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerParticipate in Our World: Worldwide Day of Play, a global play event presented by Nickelodeon and ACM. Partnership brings national visibility and aligns museum with children's museum network.
• Aurora Fire DepartmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides tours of Central Fire Station, participates in Community Hero Day with apparatus displays, provides honor guard for exhibit receptions. Department historians contribute to museum programs.
• Kane County Sheriff's OfficecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipates in Community Hero Day with vehicles and safety information. Partners on First Responder Career Fair. Therapy dog Casper appears at Kids Krew events.
• Brookfield ZoominorGTM or Marketing PartnerMuseum visitors decorate tree for Brookfield Zoo's Holiday Magic during First Fridays November event.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• New England Fire Museum: A volunteer-run fire history museum in Manchester, NH preserving firefighting heritage through antique apparatus, exhibits, and fire safety education. Most direct thematic peer to ARFM as another regional fire museum combining artifact displays, school programming, and community events.
• Kansas City Fire Museum: A non-profit fire history museum in Kansas City, MO operating in a historic firehouse with a substantial collection of antique apparatus and educational programming. Directly comparable as a heritage-focused fire museum in a mid-sized U.S. city with both exhibits and youth education.
• Fire Museum of Maryland: A non-profit fire museum in Lutherville, MD housing one of the most extensive antique fire apparatus collections on the East Coast. Closest peer in curation scale and educational programming, including similar hands-on exhibits and school tour packages.
• San Antonio Fire Museum: A non-profit fire museum housed in a historic 1901 firehouse in downtown San Antonio, with artifact collections, fire safety education, and youth programming. Operates as both a heritage site and event rental venue — same dual revenue model as ARFM.
• Los Angeles Fire Department Museum: A non-profit museum operated by the LAFD Historical Society preserving firefighting history through exhibits of antique apparatus, equipment, and memorabilia. Comparable as a fire-history peer with an active partnership with a major metro fire department, similar to ARFM's relationship with Aurora FD.
• Children's Museum in Oak Lawn: A suburban Chicago-area children's museum that created and toured the 'America United: The Days After 9/11' exhibit hosted at ARFM. Direct peer in family/children's programming, traveling-exhibit production, and Chicago-area audience overlap.
• DuPage Children's Museum: A non-profit hands-on children's museum in Naperville, IL — 16 miles from Aurora — focused on STEAM learning for families, schools, and scouts. Closest regional peer in scale, family audience, school group programming, and suburban Chicago geography.

Regional players

• Illinois Railway Museum: The largest railway museum in the U.S., located in Union, IL (~30 miles from Aurora). Comparable as an Illinois-based heritage/transportation museum offering hands-on exhibits, group programs, facility rentals, and annual signature events.
• Cantigny Park Museum: A First Division Museum and historic park complex in Wheaton, IL offering family events, school group programs, and venue rentals. Comparable as a suburban Chicago heritage attraction with event-driven GTM, education focus, and similar small-staff non-profit operating model.

Broad incumbents

• Chicago History Museum: A major Chicago-based history museum serving regional school groups with exhibits and educational programming. Functions as a broader incumbent in the same metro history/heritage museum space, competing for school field-trip visits from the same Chicago-area demographic.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ARFMinfo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aurora-regional-fire-museum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about aurora regional fire museum