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Park eyed for new Island Lake village hall, cop station

Island Lake officials say they are eyeing the town’s Water Tower Park as the potential site for a new village hall and police station.

The location was revealed Friday during a public discussion between village leaders and representatives of the firms that could develop and finance the project.

The park is on Route 176 at Newport Court, near Cotton Creek Elementary School.

Land surveys, soil tests and other examinations would be needed for the project to move forward there — not to mention village board approval of architectural designs and a funding plan.

The village hall and police station now operate at a former school building at 3720 Greenleaf Ave. The village’s Creative Playtime preschool and its senior center also are housed in the building.

The search for a new municipal facility has begun because the current building could need hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs within the next five years, officials have said.

During Friday’s talk with a representative from the BKV Group architectural and engineering company, Mayor Debbie Herrmann said officials already know what type of building they want. Although she didn’t share that vision, she said they don’t want an extravagant “Taj Mahal.”

“We’re living on a daily basis in an old school building, and we’re making due with what we have,” Herrmann said. “We need something that’s practical and functional for our village.”

Herrmann and other village officials are considering having an independent developer build and own the municipal building and then renting it from the firm at a price that has not yet been set.

At the end of the leasing period, the village would own the building.

Such an arrangement would bypass asking residents to approve a multimillion-dollar loan to pay for construction.

A construction timeline has not been set. The project’s budget was not discussed Friday.

Officials will meet with the BKV Group again June 26.

Island Lake leans toward leasing a new village hall

  Island Lake Mayor Debbie Herrmann George LeClaire/gleclaire@dailyherald.com
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