North Aurora unveils new, larger police station

Proud North Aurora officials unveiled the village's new police station Friday afternoon.

They are proud of the buildings, but they are prouder of their officers, and said they wanted to give them a good tool with which to do their jobs.

"It is only a building ... it is the officers who make it special to us. We feel they are second to none," said a choked-up Trustee Mark Gaffino, who is chairman of the police facilities committee.

Village President Dale Berman was also proud that the building came in under budget. It was originally budgeted at $13.9 million; final costs are estimated at $11.3 million.

Construction began in June 2009 at 200 S. Lincolnway (Route 31).

The station replaces a 4,500-square-foot facility built in 1990 as an attachment to village hall on State Street. The new one is almost seven times larger, and is two buildings - the station and a separate indoor gun range.

Berman noted this is the fourth home for the police department since the 1960s. The first was in a small building on State that also housed the fire department, village hall and library. The next was a room in the current village hall.

Uniformed officers stationed throughout pointed out how the new facility is an improvement on the old.

For one thing, there are more holding cells. The old place had only two, with bunks for two in each cell. That presented problems if you had, for example, three men and one woman. One of the prisoners would have to be taken up to the county jail, or alternative bond arrangements would have to be made. And it was more dangerous for officers when two detainees were in a cell. Now there are six single-bed adult cells, a juvenile cell and a juvenile lounge. All have video cameras, so officers can monitor prisoners from a central desk.

Personal lockers in the staff's locker room are individually equipped with electrical outlets for charging radios and other devices.

And there is a community meeting room.

Having their own indoor range means saving time on officer training and being able to do it at North Aurora's convenience, because police won't have to go to the Aurora Police Department range anymore, said Lt Scott Buziecki.

The station is open to the public for tours from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. It will be the only chance the public gets to see some of the areas, such as the evidence lockup and the evidence-processing rooms, before they are utilized.

The station is expected to open for business by the end of the month.