Crash Champions to open new Plainfield facility this year

PLAINFIELD – Vehicle collision repair business Crash Champions is in the process of constructing a new 20,000-square-foot facility in Plainfield at the corner of Route 59 and Hazelcrest Drive.

“That’s just huge,” Plainfield Mayor Mike Collins said at his State of the Village address Wednesday.

Crash Champions president and CEO Matt Ebert said Friday that the facility will be larger than the average repair shop, “for sure.”

The company has been in business in New Lenox since 1999 but began expanding a couple of years ago. It opened a shop on Riverwalk Court in Plainfield, just north of the DuPage River on Route 59. There also are locations in Mokena, Crestwood and Chicago.

Now, Crash Champions will move about a half-mile north, to 14022 Route 59.

“It was always the intention [to open a bigger facility] when I went to Plainfield,” Ebert said. “This was a couple years in the making.”

Ebert said it came down to market demand. The center will aim to service Plainfield as well as surrounding communities.

“We saw a need for us in that area,” Ebert said.

Crash Champions has set a goal of opening its new state-of-the-art location April 1.

It was planning to use an existing structure, but learned that it wasn’t sound enough to remodel.

“That actually delayed the project quite a bit,” Ebert said.

Collins said the property was annexed into the village years ago, when it was home to a drywall company. It had been vacant for several years.

“It will be an asset to the village,” Collins said. “It will spruce up that area, and we can always use a tax base.”