New East Dundee police station has been a 'top priority' for village president

The East Dundee Police Department's garage holds more than just squad cars.

Because of a lack of space in the small police station attached to the village hall, the garage serves as a storage area for weapons and a place to keep evidence. It contains a unisex locker room for officers, as well as an area to clean guns and make in-house repairs.

"It's not ideal," Police Chief Terry Mee said, "but we're making do with what we've got."

As is, the village's less than 1,200-square-foot police station hardly has enough space or security for basic functionality, Mee said.

All that will change early next year when police move into a 12,000-square-foot, $3.5 million state-of-the-art facility.

The building has been a top priority for Village President Lael Miller. "It's shameful that people have to work in these conditions," he said. "But we'll fix that."

The new police station on Third Street formerly served as a fire station before the East Dundee Fire Protection District moved to a new location on Dundee Avenue.

Once complete, the newly renovated building will include separate and more secure spaces for holding evidence, maintaining records and storing firearms and other weapons. It contains interviewing rooms, a conference room and a much larger detention area with adequate space for holding cells.

Audio and video monitoring capabilities will also be installed - an important function that does not exist in the current station, Mee said.

"It's just a necessity from a legal and prosecutorial perspective," he said.

Additional features of the new station include physical training and workout rooms, a meeting area, a kitchen area, and separate male and female locker rooms. Mee said several aspects of the building can be shared with the community.

The village is using tax increment financing revenue to fund the project, Miller said. The police station is included in the village's downtown TIF district, where additional property tax money that would have been distributed to local governments from the improved value of the property is funneled back into the development.

"It's a credit to the village and the village board for supporting the funding for a state-of-the-art building," Mee said. "And it's going to be that - state of the art."

With sustainable efforts like the use of solar panels, insulation and reused materials, contractors are also aiming for a LEED Gold certification. The village could receive a $400,000 state grant for their sustainability efforts if the building meets those standards, Miller said.

Mee said he hopes to move into the new station in February, but the timing is flexible. Construction is still underway, the elevator needs to be installed and furniture has yet to be ordered.

Once the move takes place, village officials can move forward with renovation plans for village hall, which is also too small and antiquated for its current use, Miller said.

"There's not a timeline here because we're surviving now," Mee said. "(The new police station) has got to be operational for years in the future. We want it to be right."