Rosemont’s late mayor to return — in robot form
His legacy is synonymous with Rosemont, but it’s likely many of the visitors to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center didn’t know or even remember the man whose name is on the building.
Thanks to patented technology and a dose of artificial intelligence, you’ll soon be able to meet the Northwest suburban politician and power broker.
The Rosemont village board this week agreed to spend $176,265 to bring the town’s founding mayor back to life in the form of a walking, talking animatronic figure that will be designed by Jacksonville, Florida-based Sally Dark Rides.
The robotic mayor will be the centerpiece of a 4,300-square-foot local history museum being built out on the first floor of the new village hall at 9501 Technology Blvd., next to the Fashion Outlets of Chicago.
Board members last December inked a $1.1 million contract with Chicago Scenic Studios to create the museum exhibits, which will include recreation of the old mayor’s office and a good number of his beloved M.I. Hummel figurines.
Brad Stephens, who took helm of the tiny village after his father’s death in 2007, envisions the animatronic Don seated behind the former mayor’s old desk that’s still in storage.
The robot will be motion activated to speak when visitors are nearby. What’s still to be decided is whether it will have a set of prerecorded lines, or interact with patrons in conversation.
“We haven’t gotten that far because it’s so advanced right now,” said the current mayor, who added the contract language does give the production company authorization to utilize AI as part of the design process.
At least to start, the manufacturer will be able to do modeling off an hourlong speech the late mayor gave to the City Club of Chicago in 2005.
Donald Stephens was 79 when he died, but it’s yet to be determined at what age of his life the robot will resemble.
The idea for the robotic likeness came from one of his grandsons — Mayor Brad Stephens’ 12-year-old son Joseph — who saw similar political animatrons during a family trip to the Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Joseph — who has appeared in campaign videos for his dad and already told his Rosemont Elementary School classmates he hopes to be mayor one day — is expected to hawk for donations from the local business community and residents in hopes of defraying the cost of the robot.
The village has also applied to Cook County for tourism grants that come from state and federal sources.
The museum is scheduled to open in time for the 70th anniversary of Rosemont’s incorporation on Jan. 20, 2026, but the robot isn’t expected to be ready until June 2026.