Nestled against O’Hare Airport lies a tiny suburban oasis called Rosemont, a village with a penchant for inequality and a tax base the envy of any city manager. It is home to the Allstate Arena and 5,687 hotel rooms that beckon travelers and conventioneers. Its 4,224 residents live in blatantly divided neighborhoods.
Rosemont became home to the first publicly funded gated community in the country in 1995. No local government had ever used tax money for residential fortification. In an act of bold disregard to the rest of the village, officials surrounded the Scott Street subdivision – but no other residential areas – with a tall, wrought iron fence.
This neighborhood consists of middle class single-family homes and has a 94 percent white population – Mayor Donald E. Stephens and his family among them. If you are wondering who Scott Street subdivision residents fear, it is the residents of the Courts Apartments, a rental property with several dozen densely packed buildings located a mile away. Its population is 77 percent Hispanic.
At the Scott Street subdivision, guards staff two gates around the clock. To evade potential legal challenges, Rosemont does not require visitors to announce their purposes for entering, although a refusal may invite scrutiny from the village’s outsized police force.
No such protection exists for the Hispanic residents of the Courts Apartments or any other Rosemont resident outside the Scott Street subdivision. Officials say that additional gates would be impractical. Village Attorney Peter Rosenthal said, “The reason is primarily geographic. In the Scott Street subdivision, there are no through streets. At the Courts Apartments, there is the potential for through traffic. It just wouldn’t be practical.”
As mayor for 46 years, Stephens has made Rosemont a consistent source of controversy. Stephens has admitted purchasing a Rosemont hotel property in 1960 from the nephew of Sam Giancana, a notorious mafia boss. Stephens has been indicted for failing to report income, mail fraud and receiving kickbacks. The Feds failed to secure convictions.
Redevelopment plans threaten to displace Courts Apartments residents. In December, village trustees voted unanimously to declare the area blighted. This allows the village to condemn the property, buy out the owners of the rental units and local businesses, and clear the way for redevelopment.
The village’s professed goal for redevelopment is to create new recreational opportunities for remaining residents. Attorney Bill Ryan, who handles the village’s real estate matters said, “For the people who live in this area, there is not enough room for kids to have parks and playgrounds.” In addition, Rosemont officials want to replace the high-density six-flat rental units with low-density town houses.
Devoid of affordable housing, Courts Apartments residents have few options within Rosemont if their units are leveled. Should Rosemont eventually decide to raze the entire rental development, the village would, in effect, expel two-thirds of its Hispanic population. In response to critics who charge that Rosemont will be unable to accommodate displaced residents, Ryan said, “People should take Rosemont for its word.” In Rosemont, the word is clout. A wrought-iron fence and a half-century mayoralty discourage any defiance.