Bensenville set to open new police station

In the ultimate act of recycling, Bensenville officials are ready to pull the cover off the village's newest asset.

Officials and residents will celebrate the official dedication of the village's new Police & Emergency Management Headquarters at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at 345 E. Green St. An open house and tours will begin immediately after the ceremony.

Police Chief Frank Kosman called the project an "adaptive reuse" of a blighted industrial building that has been vacant since 1998.

"For years this facility has attracted vandals and vagrants of all kinds from along the tracks," Kosman said. "This project has given us a state-of-the-art facility in place of a previous eyesore and magnet for problems."

Construction on the $16 million, 47,000-square-foot station began in November 2013 and, Kosman said, couldn't wrap up fast enough.

"Our current building hasn't met the needs of modern policing in years. So when we begin operations in this new facility on Monday, it's going to be like wow," Kosman said. "For the first time in years we'll be able to reach our full potential and set even higher standards in the services we can provide."

One of the most important improvements, Kosman said, will be the more secure holding cells.

"Our current cells still have bars and we've had numerous attempts by suspects to hang themselves on the bars," Kosman said. "The new cells are designed to reduce the likelihood of injury, to officers and suspects, in the cell."

The new building also will allow citizens more confidentiality by providing private rooms to file reports and talk to officers.

"If you come and file a report right now, you're talking to an officer in the lobby," Kosman said. "There's no privacy there and that makes some people uncomfortable, so we've taken care of that, too."

A new sally port will provide a more secure transfer of suspects, who previously were brought in through the records department and down a flight of stairs.

"We've got a far safer, more efficient environment to work in now and we couldn't be happier," Kosman said.

As for the 44-year-old police station at 100 N. Church Road, village marketing and business development administrator Mike Martella says it's on the market to get it back on the tax rolls.

"We are currently shopping the site for redevelopment," Martella said. "The most likely use being residential or townhouse development."