Glen Ellyn board to vote on police station design Monday

Construction could begin in early July on Glen Ellyn's long-awaited police station near Panfish Park.

After lengthy debates about the project's scope, trustees will vote Monday on exterior designs for the 29,426-square-foot, two-story building.

The board still aims to spend up to $13.51 million to build a station more than double the size of the current one.

Trustees settled on that price tag - roughly $2 million more than what they originally intended to spend - after police raised concerns that their previous budget was underfunded and based on a conservative estimate set before architects began in-depth designs.

The site - more than half of which lies on a flood plain - also has presented some challenges for architects, who positioned the building on the highest edges of the property on Park Boulevard.

But police and Village Manager Mark Franz have said the site offers access to nearby Roosevelt Road, a major artery with businesses and a higher volume of 911 calls than the rest of town. The project also allows the village to improve the entrance and parking at Panfish Park.

Debt will cover the lion's share of the station's construction. Last summer, the board agreed to borrow $13.43 million by issuing bonds, about $1.5 million of which is financing a separate project to improve drainage of Lake Ellyn - and lessen the chances of it overflowing - during major storms.

To pay for the rest of the new station, trustees later earmarked $650,000 seized during arrests on drug-related charges; about $700,000 in drug forfeiture funds the village expects to receive in up to two years; and $350,000 from a village fund for roadwork and other capital projects.

The $13.51 million does not include the roughly $700,000 village has spent on buying and demolishing homes to make way for the station.

Four homes have met the wrecking ball, one of which the village already owned. Franz said Thursday there are no plans yet of what to do with the 11,000 square feet of space police currently use in the first floor of the Civic Center, a former school downtown.

The existing station is outdated, lacks enough storage and poses security risks, police say.

If trustees approve the plans and other measures related to the project Monday, the village could break ground on the station in the first week of July, Franz said.

It would take about a year before the department's 40 sworn officers and supervisors could move into their new headquarters.