Arlington Hts. to get first look at possible new police station Tuesday
Arlington Heights trustees and residents will get their first look Tuesday at what a new police station could look like, but officials said it's still too early to put a price tag on what the project may cost.
FGM Architects, which has been studying whether a new police station is possible on the existing municipal campus in downtown Arlington Heights, will present analysis from the study and discuss concept plans with the village board during a meeting at 8 p.m. Tuesday at village hall.
FGM representatives will discuss how much space is needed for the police station and present a "best-fit" concept floor plan for the facility.
"The big question a lot of people have is the cost," said Village Manager Randy Recklaus. "We are not at a point yet where we can discuss costs because a lot of the alternatives we are still exploring have huge cost implications and they still need to be researched."
Besides building on the municipal campus, options include buying land elsewhere and building a new police station from scratch. There may also be costs of moving police operations to another location while a new police station is built.
"Given the interest we've had, we wanted to check in with the public every step along the way," Recklaus said. "But this is not the step that involved prices."
The current Arlington Heights police station was built in the 1970s. Officials have said it is long past its useful life and costly to maintain. A 2009 study indicated a new station could cost $40 million, a number that riled village trustees and the community. During more recent discussions, trustees have said the price will need to be much less than that original estimate.
FGM has been conducting its space needs study since October. It has involved a series of multiday meetings with police staff to evaluate operations, needs and objectives, as well as meetings with the Police Station Committee. That committee consists of Trustee Tom Glasgow, Trustee Jim Tinaglia, Director of Planning and Community Development Charles Witherington-Perkins, Assistant Village Manager Diana Mikula, Police Chief Gerald Mourning, police Capt. Nick Pecora, Director of Finance Tom Kuehne, Assistant Director of Public Works Cris Papierniak and Design Planner Steve Hautzinger.
The village board is not expected to make any decisions Tuesday, but rather give feedback as the process continues.