Rosemont, Illinois

Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located immediately northwest of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 3,952. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before that. While Rosemont's land area and population are relatively small among municipalities in the Chicago metropolitan area, the village is a major center for commercial activity in the region and is a key component of the Golden Corridor. It contains Allstate Arena, which hosts the Chicago Wolves AHL hockey team. Since its founding, the village has been governed by one family, and has been described as America's "last true political machine".

Geography

Rosemont is at (41.990730, −87.873816). It is part of Leyden Township.

According to the 2010 census, Rosemont has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 3,952 people, 1,597 households, and 1,016 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,810 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup (including Hispanics in the racial categories) of the village was 56.05% White, 2.76% African American, 2.10% Native American, 5.29% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 20.57% from other races, and 13.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39.50% of the population.

There were 1,597 households, out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.40% were married couples living together, 6.45% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.38% were non-families. 33.81% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.38 and the average family size was 2.61.

The village's age distribution consisted of 19.9% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $56,432, and the median income for a family was $70,909. Males had a median income of $36,504 versus $27,750 for females. The per capita income for the village was $28,034. About 11.6% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Rosemont is positioned directly east of O'Hare International Airport and directly northwest of the City of Chicago. Due to its location, much of the village is occupied by a large highway interchange, hotels, and office buildings. Several major hotel chains operating in the United States have a presence in Rosemont.

According to Colliers International, the Rosemont/O'Hare office market encompassed approximately of total inventory in Q1 2017. Corporate headquarters in the village include those of Culligan, US Foods, Velsicol Chemical Corporation, World Kitchen, Riddell, Reyes Holdings, the Big Ten Conference, and Haribo of America.

Additionally, Rosemont operates several visitor related-forums. Among these are the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, used for trade shows and gatherings; the Rosemont Theater, used for award ceremonies and concerts; and the Allstate Arena, used for concerts, professional wrestling (three times hosting WrestleMania), Chicago Wolves hockey, and formerly the DePaul Blue Demons basketball program and Chicago Sky WNBA basketball. The village is the sponsor of the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. The village hosts Midwest FurFest, Exxxotica Expo, and Anime Central annually, among other conventions.

Education

Rosemont Elementary School District 78 operates Rosemont Elementary School. Other area schools include Orchard Place School in Des Plaines, operated by the Des Plaines School District 62; East Leyden High School in Franklin Park, operated by the Leyden High School District 212; and Maine West High School in Des Plaines, operated by Maine Township High School District 207. The area that serves District 78 is in the high school district served by East Leyden High School, and the area served by District 62 is served by Maine West High School.

Rosemont is served by two community college districts, Triton College and Oakton College.

Sports

Rosemont's Allstate Arena is home to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League, and has previously been home to the WNBA's Chicago Sky, and the DePaul University basketball team. Starting in 2011, the Chicago Bandits women's National Pro Fastpitch team moved to Rosemont after playing in Elgin and Lisle in the past.

The Allstate Arena was home to the Chicago Bruisers, an original member of the Arena Football League in 1987. When the Bruisers advanced to the league championship in 1988, Rosemont hosted ArenaBowl II, as well as an arena football test game in 1987. Rosemont is home to The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. In March 2013, Rosemont was named a possible location for a replacement of Wrigley Field.

Since October 2013, the Big Ten Conference's headquarters have been in the Rosemont Financial District.

Rosemont is home to the Chicago Dogs, an independent league baseball team. The team is part of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball and play in a 6,300-seat ballpark, Impact Field. The club played their first games in May 2018.

Transportation

Rosemont has a station on the North Central Service, which provides weekday rail service between Antioch and Chicago Union Station.

Rosemont has a station on the Blue Line of the Chicago "L", which provides direct rail service to O'Hare International Airport, downtown Chicago, and Forest Park.

Pace operates numerous bus routes from a hub at the Rosemont 'L' station. This includes the Pace I-90 Express to Schaumburg and Elgin.

In the 1990s, there were efforts to construct a personal rapid transit system in the village. Rosemont was one of six communities that competed to receive a prototype system, which Regional Transit Authority was planning to build. Rosemont's proposal was selected for the project, but the project was ultimately cancelled in 1999.

Politics

Since the village of Rosemont was incorporated in 1956, one family, the Stephens family, has governed it. Donald Stephens was mayor from 1956 until his death in 2007; his son, Brad Stephens, succeeded him and is the current mayor. In 2017, village trustees voted to increase Stephens' salary by 53 percent to $260,000, making him one of the highest paid mayors in the United States.

The ''Chicago Tribune'' has reported that the village was "renowned for insider dealing", acting as a legal mechanism to funnel money to the Stephens family. Throughout the 2000s, at least four other members of the Stephens family held highly paid managerial positions in city institutions such as the convention center, parks, and public safety. The mayor's nephew, Christopher Stephens, runs the village-run convention center and made $255,600 per year between 2015 and 2018. Mark Stephens, the mayor's brother, owns a private company called Bomark which holds a $4.5 million annual contract to handle parking and other public functions. The mayor's sister and other associates have also received public contracts. In a 2023 article,''The Economist'' described the village as "the last true political machine in America" and likened it to autocratic states like Gabon. The family maintain their own political party, the Rosemont Voters League.

Investigations

Donald Stephens was accused of fraud and bribery twice in the 1980s, but was acquitted. In the late 1990s, the village, Mayor Stephens, and others made efforts to bring a casino, to be called the Emerald Casino, to Rosemont. However, the Illinois Gaming Board eventually withdrew the license in 2001 after concern about close ties to the Chicago Outfit mafia. An FBI agent testified that Stephens had met with Joey Lombardo and John DiFronzo, among others, to divide up contracts for casino work.

In July 2019, the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' reported that the FBI was investigating possible wrongdoing in the city's public safety department, including allegations that members of the department had illegally consumed and distributed illegal narcotic painkillers. The ''Sun-Times'' also reported that the FBI were looking at a contract awarded for Monterry Security Consultants, Inc. (a politically connected security company) to oversee security at public venues (including Allstate Arena, Rosemont Theatre, and the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center).

Village presidents

The following is a list of the village presidents (mayors) of Rosemont:

See also

* Death of Kenneka Jenkins, a young woman who died of hypothermia in a Rosemont hotel freezer

References

External links

*
Village of Rosemont official website

{{authority control

Populated places established in 1956
Villages in Cook County, Illinois
Chicago metropolitan area
Entertainment districts in the United States
Villages in Illinois