The Village of Lemont, Illinois

THE V I LLAGE OF LEMONT , I LL INOI S We’re really lucky to have it.” Regarding downtown Lemont, Berry notes that the area, which is on the National Register of Historic Places is “really the heart of Lemont” with many old and wonderful buildings made of Lemont limestone. “It’s a real gem,” he declares. “When the canal workers started building the I&M Canal, they started building buildings next to it to help with the commerce. So, along those same quarries, we have a dozen or more all- limestone buildings, as old as the 1840s. There was a second wave of development with the construction of the Sanitary & Ship Canal. That brought more development to downtown, which is beautifully situated in the Des Plaines River valley. North of downtown are forest preserves and as you come down the valley bluff, you see downtown Lemont along the canals and the river, and then, housing and churches go up the south side of the bluff. So, it’s a really pretty sight.” According to Egofske, downtown Lemont has also experienced somewhat of a renaissance over the past few years. “Several buildings were vacant,” he reports, “but they’re pretty much all full, right now. We’re also getting a high-end luxury development that just broke ground in downtown. That’s about a $25-30 million investment for about 80 luxury apartments. Having a destination, such as the Forge, is huge, and as the Forge continues to develop, we have other businesses going in.” Over the past few years, several new restaurants have opened up; a hometown grocery that first opened in the 1940s has been repurposed into a Pete’s Fresh Market; and an old bowling alley that was closed for seven years, reopened a year ago. Berry says that part of the city’s economic plan is to bring more residents to downtown in order to continue to support Lemont’s ongoing business growth. The Village is on Metra’s Heritage Corridor Line, the regional commuter rail line out of Chicago, so supporting Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is key. “It’s been a Pete’s Fresh Market