Mayor Embraced by Rosemont Business Leaders

Administration Report Most Popular Luncheon Program of the Year

A record 158 Rosemont business leaders and employees, labor leaders and government officials gathered at Rosewood Restaurant, on Wednesday, September 14, 2011, to meet the Village of Rosemont’s president, Mayor Brad Stephens, and hear his annual report on the community’s growth and progress.

Mayor Stephens first recognized Bill Sokolis, president and CEO, and Hannah Michael, public relations director, from the Chicago Bandits women’s professional softball organization.  The mayor congratulated the executives on the Bandits’ 2011 NPF championship.  

Even though the village had just broken ground in February, and this area experienced one of the rainiest springs in history, Mayor Stephens and the Village of Rosemont debuted the 2,000-seat Rosemont Field, in time for the Bandits to move into their new home arena and play their opening game.   

The mayor announced, “The village is partnering with the Illinois Baseball Academy and Chicago Bandits softball on an expansion that will add two more turf fields and a youth academy under an air-suspended dome, roughly 500 feet by 250 feet, to be used year-round. Completion is scheduled for early, 2012.

“The creation of Rosemont Field is a great opportunity for us, not only to present an energetic and talented team of champions, but through this expansion, to offer healthful sports options that will benefit young people and youth fitness.”  

Mayor Stephens then quickly changed the focus of his presentation to the current status of the 3.3 acres of projects currently under construction, or soon to be, that will nearly complete the total 8.9-acre, multi-million dollar development:  The Park at Rosemont.  

The mayor used projections and a model (exhibited at the center of the stage) of The Park for his presentation.  The views depicted in the visual aids are from the west, i.e., looking eastward, from the audience’s point of view.

The mayor explained that the Village of Rosemont is acting as its own developer, ensuring quality and control of the development.  He underscored that the new restaurants and attractions are nearly 100 percent firsts-in-market, as he began this portion of the presentation on the northwest corner of the development.  The single- story, 7,000-square-foot building under construction there will become an authentic Irish pub restaurant, from the Lyons Group in Boston.  

East of the pub and across from the second most popular movie theatre complex in Illinois -- Muvico Rosemont 18 -- will be Kings Bowling, a 29,000-square-foot  facility, featuring 20 lanes -- 14 lanes in one section and a six-lane semi-private area.

Mayor Stephens was particularly happy to announce that the Village of Rosemont’s Board of Trustees, at the regular monthly board meeting immediately preceding the luncheon, approved a partnership deal that is no laughing matter with the famous Zanies’ Comedy Club.  The 5,000-square-foot club will be located in the center of the south side of the development, just east of Park Tavern, a 7,000-square-foot facility under construction in the southwest corner of The Park at Rosemont.  

The 7,200-square-foot Taverna Opa Greek restaurant from Miami and Orlando will be located on the first floor of a building in the center of the east side of the development.  The 5,000-square-foot Adobe Gila’s  Mexican restaurant will be will be located on the second floor of the same building and accessed off of the Rosemont Municipal Parking Garage.  

Directly south of Adobe Gilas’s and Taverna Opa, will be Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar and Grill.  This new hot spot, with 35,000 square feet of space, includes a special area for VIPs.  The Toby Keith organization is expected to book some of the most popular names in country music entertainment for their grand opening.  

The 20,000-square-foot Hofbräuhaus will be located in the center of the west side of The Park at Rosemont.

The mayor pointed out the area on the northwest side of The Park, where a huge tent has been installed to present one very scary dwelling:  The brand new SCREAMS at  The Park at Rosemont.  The attraction, which promises to be a truly fright-filled experience, opens Sunday, October 1st and runs through Monday, October 31st.  It is expected to attract 20,000 Halloween fans.  Magician-illusionist Mark Kaschube and his Mischievous Tricksters will perform their hilarious, fun-filled show at the Rosemont Theatre, at 2 PM, on Sunday, October 30th.  100 percent of the proceeds from that show will benefit Salute Inc., an organization that helps military personnel returning from combat.  

Thousands of skaters glided onto our new rink last season.  The permanent ice skating venue is significantly enlarged this year to regulation NHL size, and is being moved to its new permanent location in time for this year’s ice-skating season.  It will be the centerpiece of the development.  

The biggest news of all is that Chicago Fashion Outlets / Rosemont-- the $250 million,
550,000-square-foot, designer-direct shopping mall -- will break ground in the next few weeks on its 120-store center, with a 2,600-car indoor parking deck.  It will occupy space south end of Balmoral Avenue and west of the Rosemont Theatre.  

“Recently I’ve told many friends and colleagues that the Illinois Gaming Board doesn’t know what a gift they gave Rosemont by awarding the casino license to Des Plaines,” the mayor said.  He explained that if the new mall sells as much merchandise as the mall in Aurora, more tax revenues may be generated for Rosemont than would have been generated by the operation of a casino in Rosemont.  

Mayor Stephens moved on to the subject of commercial real estate in Rosemont, commenting that there is more potential than ever for increased office development.  There are 15 acres that will be available just south of Balmoral.  The village continues to work with a management company of the property on the northwest corner of River and Higgins Roads, to encourage development there.  

The mayor completed his presentation with an explanation of the transportation plan, including the Balmoral access ramp, which is currently under construction.

Before taking questions, Mayor Stephens concluded: “We continue to work with the Illinois and Chicago Departments of Transportation on the Balmoral extension to southbound Mannheim, as well as the connection to O' Hare. We are currently working with PACE on defining a bus transportation system that will move people within the community more efficiently. We hope to have the first loop of that system operational in the spring of 2012.”