'The hope was alive': After months of delays, Matrix Club opens in Naperville
After months of delays, Madan Kulkarni's dream of creating a multicultural entertainment venue in south Naperville is becoming a reality.
The Matrix Club — a 75,000-square-foot space at the site of a shuttered Sam's Club on Route 59 — is finally open, offering visitors a banquet hall, restaurant, theater, art gallery, sound lab and yoga studio all under one roof.
On the heels of the Matrix Club's first events on Aug. 18, a key piece of the experience debuts Thursday night when the restaurant opens. Meg's Lounge, named after Kulkarni's daughter who died last year, also opens for the first time.
Kulkarni, CEO and founder of the Matrix Club, said it's been an emotional experience seeing a vision born more than a decade ago come alive.
“It has been frustrating, and we have had to put up with a lot in terms of things not arriving on time or being done on time,” Kulkarni said. “Despite all of that, the hope was alive.”
It's been almost a full year since the planned opening date for the Matrix Club, but construction delays kept pushing back the opening. Numerous high schools, including Metea Valley and Neuqua Valley, booked proms for last spring but ended up having to switch sites.
Despite the setbacks, Matrix Club officials hit the ground running last month when they received a certificate of occupancy. Among the first events was for 2,100 staff members from Indian Prairie Unit District 204.
“Every high school we interacted with for prom from 2023, they have rebooked for 2024,” said Cherryl Marcey, the Matrix Club's director of sales and marketing. “The administrations were truly supportive about having to relocate. They came in understanding this was a new build-out.”
Beyond hosting weddings, proms, corporate events and concerts, Kulkarni envisions the Matrix Club as a multicultural hub for artists from the area and around the world to gather as creators. With its lighting, sound and recording systems, the Matrix Club has the capability of streaming events from the banquet hall, theater and restaurant.
After investing more than $10 million into construction, Kulkarni is confident the concept will succeed.
“We know we're in for something very special,” he said.