Matteson Village President highlights future projects

Village of Matteson President Sheila Y. Chalmers-Currin
Village of Matteson President Sheila Y. Chalmers-Currin

Matteson Village President highlights future projects

BY TIA CAROL JONES

Village of Matteson President Sheila Y. Chalmers-Currin gave an update on Pete’s Market, the Southland Casino and Market Square Crossing.

Chalmers-Currin, who has lived in Matteson since 1983, was elected Village President in 2017. Chalmers-Currin said retail has changed and that she took the stance early on to find out, “What do we have to do to be sustainable?”

“When I was sworn in in 2017, I was baptized in what could go wrong in retail,” she said. “I decided that we needed a bold vision.” Part of that vision included getting Sam’s Club to come back to the Village as well as to bring Pete’s Market to the Village.

“Sam’s left and we convinced them to come back,” she said. “They’ve expanded because of their sales.”

Chalmers-Currin said there are nine car dealerships and no openings at the Auto Mall. It is a sign that businesses see the Village as a viable place to set up shop and contribute to its growth. “That’s exciting to us. It’s one of the reasons we can stay with a balanced budget,” she said.

Family-owned Pete’s Market has been a three-year project Chalmers-Currin has been working on to fill the grocery store vacancy in the Village, after Dominicks left four years ago. “Pete’s is already building out with the expectation of opening in the fall,” she said. “We’re very excited to have them here.”

Chalmers-Currin said she has also been going outside of Illinois to talk to businesses about coming to the Village. And, at the same time making sure to promote minority participation. Something important since Matteson is 77 percent African American.

Housing is also growing in the Village of Matteson, with Brookmore -- a 300-unit residential development -- and Regency Point, as well as plans for a senior community.

“Individuals still want to build in the Village of Matteson and we’re still growing,” Chalmers-Currin said. Market Square Crossing is a residential and commercial development slated for the former Lincoln Mall site. It will include a proposed 613 residential units, 30.9 acres of sports and recreational use, a 2.3-acre Town Center, with green space, and up to 200,000 sq. ft. of retail space. “People are going online to shop,” she said. “Our focus is making something there that’s sustainable.” The plan is to have small, boutique retailers, as well as a community feel, with walking paths in the residential area, as a way to feel more inclusive.

Matteson is hoping Market Crossing will also be the site of the Southland Casino. While the plan has been approved by the Village Board, the site still needs the approval of the Illinois Gaming Board.

The plan for the Casino is three phases, with The Lord Companies, LLC, having cleared away the remnants of Carson-Pirie Scott, which closed in 2018. “This is the best site,” Chalmers-Currin said. “I have letters of support for this being the best site.”

Chalmers-Currin said Matteson prides itself in being a Village people can live and work in.

“It’s a good place to live, it’s a good town to be in,” she said. “We’re safe, one of the safest communities in the Southland.”

And, she said she would like for the people who work in Matteson to reside in the Village.

“I like to have them live in the community they serve. I want people to have the same value I have in this community. I prefer to have people who care about this community and want to live here,” she said.

Chalmers-Currin said Matteson has partnered with the local community college, as well as Governors State University to bring jobs to the Village. She said the partnerships put Matteson in a position to ask people to come there and bring businesses because the village is cultivating the workforce. “Before I leave office, I want to see that we bring in a major component to bring jobs,” she said. “I want to be in a place where you remember when I was mayor, I brought jobs.”

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