Rosemont’s Stephens statue will be on the move
The eight-foot, 1,500-pound bronze-cast statue of Rosemont’s founding Mayor Donald E. Stephens — along with furniture, computers and paperwork that might fit more easily into moving trucks — will make a short trip to the new village hall that is expected to open in June, officials say.
Renovations are now complete on the top floor of four-story, 121,000-square-foot office building at 9501 Technology Blvd., in the shadow of the Fashion Outlets of Chicago.
That floor will house village government departments, current Mayor Brad Stephens’ Leyden Township Republican political organization, Village Trustee Jack Dorgan’s DBP Team governmental lobbying firm, and companies that do work for the village, including law firms Donahue & Rose, Ryan & Ryan, and Storino, Ramello & Durkin.
They’re all making the move from the current office building that doubles as village hall at 9501 W. Devon Ave. in the weeks after Memorial Day, according to Brad Stephens.
The larger-than-life likeness of his dad, dedicated in the courtyard on Father’s Day 2016, is scheduled to make the delicate relocation across town sometime before June, Stephens said.
The statue depicts a kneeling Don Stephens towering over roses, the village water tower and other local landmarks. It will be placed inside the lobby of the new village hall as part of a Rosemont history museum. The display also is expected to include the former mayor’s vast collection of Hummel figurines.
Village officials are still collecting other memorabilia and mementos from residents in hopes of putting the items on view in early 2025.
The new village board room, also on the first floor, is expected to host its first meeting of the mayor and trustees in June.
The headquarters of the public safety department, which will be on the first and second floors, still requires more work, including build out of holding cells and an elevator that will go in between the two floors, Stephens said.
Final move-ins of other leased office users on the third floor is scheduled for late summer or early fall. The village board this week approved nearly $6.5 million worth of third floor renovations being done by Degen & Rosato Construction Co. and Northern Builders, which followed earlier approvals of $29 million for the first, second and fourth floors.
The gutting of the old Cisco Systems office building started last August, after the village paid $13 million for the vacant structure the year before. The village scrapped plans for a new separate village hall and public safety department headquarters, which were estimated to cost $45 million and $40 million, respectively.
Officials are courting developers and potential users for their current eight-story building on Devon across from Rivers Casino in Des Plaines. The village took back possession of the building last December, two years after a sale to Northfield-based Saxony Properties, who couldn’t find suitable users for the office space.