Arlington Heights selects police station design to be built on current site

Arlington Heights is moving forward with a plan for a new police station that may cost more than $27 million to be built.

The village board on Monday discussed the final recommendations from FGM Architects, a firm that has been conducting a study for nearly a year on the topic. It recommended a new 70,500-square-foot police station that would be built in the same location as the current one and that would be two stories tall with a basement, along with a 10,000-square-foot indoor garage for police vehicles.

The study was commissioned to verify results from an earlier study done in 2010 that found that the current police station is beyond its useful life, but it also aimed to find a smaller and less expensive way for the village to build a new police station.

One of the major questions of the study was whether a new police station could be built on the current municipal campus, and Ray Lee, a principal with FGM Architects, said that answer was a "resounding yes."

Lee said his team and the police station committee, which included village staff members and two trustees, discussed the ins and outs of modern policing and how to best design the building while also saving money.

For example, evidence storage is an issue because of laws that mandate departments keep evidence for some cases for 25 years or longer. In the proposed plan, the police department will use the fourth floor of Arlington Heights village hall for evidence storage as a way to minimize space needs at the new station.

"I wouldn't want to go any smaller," Lee said of the conceptual designs.

Trustees stressed that the cost estimates for the station's construction could still go up or down.

"That is really just a measuring stick," said Trustee Jim Tinaglia. "We think this is a good ballpark for where we ought to be for good, solid, middle-of-the-road construction that is still high-quality."

Tinaglia said trustees will still be able to examine and trim costs as the design and construction process continues.

The $27 million does not include other costs such as an estimated $1 million to $1.2 million for furnishings, $2.5 million to $2.7 million for fees and contingency costs, and $1.3 million to $1.5 million for temporarily relocating the police department.

"We still have a long way to go, but we have reached a very important point in the process," said Village President Tom Hayes.

Village Manager Randy Recklaus said next the police station committee will meet again in the next few weeks to put together a request for proposals to find an architect and construction manager for the project.