Glen Ellyn studying space crunch at Civic Center

In 1929, a new junior high school opened on Duane Street in Glen Ellyn.

Today, that building still stands — but as the village's Civic Center, which houses community meeting rooms and village departments, including police.

And while the three-story building's space has been repurposed, village officials say the existing layout has led to “operational deficiencies” for a local government in the 21st century.

So they've hired an architecture firm to conduct an analysis that would detail current and long-term space needs, and proposed costs for changes.

“It's important to do some planning on a regular basis,” Village Manager Mark Franz said. “This allows us to know what our needs are and prioritize them. It's important to know where our shortcomings may be, and where we're heading.”

The village purchased the building from Glen Ellyn Elementary District 41 in 1970 and converted classrooms into the council chambers and offices. The police department took part of the ground floor, putting in a prisoner detention area, records/dispatch center and garage.

“Most of the police offices are in what used to be the band room,” said Police Chief Phil Norton. “So the acoustics are pretty nice.”

Deputy Chief Robert Acton said police have managed daily challenges with prisoner intake and housing, and property and evidence processing and storage. There's also parking limitations, because police and visitors to the building share a parking lot with neighboring businesses.

A downtown plan adopted in 2009 suggested that the police department could relocate to a new building. While that might be beneficial, Norton said there's also benefits to the department staying downtown as “part of the vibrant nature of the community.”

“We're hoping the architect at the end of this comes up with several different plans how to reuse the space to fit our needs,” he said.

The village board had previously allocated $15,000 to complete a space needs analysis for the police department in the fiscal year 2010 budget. But village staff decided the scope of the study should be expanded to encompass the entire building. Money from the village's facilities maintenance reserve fund will cover the rest of the study's $22,500 cost.

The village has hired Dewberry, a professional services firm, to conduct the study. It is expected to take 12 to 16 weeks.