Matthews proposes co-located elementary school and Discovery Place children’s museum with downtown park land swap

Town of Matthews officials onstage outlined a proposal to rebuild Matthews Elementary School on its existing site and co-locate a Discovery Place children’s museum under the same roof, paired with a land swap to expand the downtown park and preserve school acreage for potential future use.

Town Manager Becky Hawk said the town and Discovery Place formalized a development and management agreement in February 2025 and “we are promising to deliver a museum to the community by 2030.” She said the town has acquired nearby parcels (including 251 South Trade and two parcels at 269 and 307 South Trade) to incorporate into a new park and to allow efficient queuing and separate access for school and museum traffic.

The proposal would keep the school in its downtown Matthews location while placing the new school building toward the rear of the deep site and converting the front acreage into an expanded downtown park (Stumptown Park). The town would perform a land swap, giving Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) acreage at the McKee and Pleasant Plains site (about 27 acres) for potential long-term relief-school needs; Hawk said that property would remain park-like unless CMS later elects to build.

Officials said colocating the two uses within…