Construction on Glen Ellyn police station ahead of schedule

Construction on a $13.5 million police station in Glen Ellyn will wrap up ahead of schedule this summer.

Contractors previously expected to complete their work in August. But crews have made significant progress on the building of the two-story, 29,000-square-foot station because of the mild winter and now plan to complete the project in July, Assistant Police Chief Bill Holmer said Monday.

Police will move out of the existing station downtown in phases, but the village has not yet determined the specifics of the relocation. Holmer said there's no comparison between the new facility near Panfish Park and the current headquarters for the village's 40 sworn officers and their supervisors.

"This space is designed and constructed as a police station, whereas the space that we're in right now never really was," he said.

Police have operated the department out of the first floor of the Civic Center, a former school on Duane Street, for more than four decades. The aging, 11,000-square-foot space lacks enough room for storage of evidence that police must keep for years after a crime.

The station also raises security issues. Suspects are now brought in through a parking lot shared with village employees. And investigators conduct interviews in rooms next to offices.

The village board last year pledged to spend up to $13.51 million to build a station more than double the size of the current one. The village spent an additional $550,000 to buy several homes that were demolished to make way for the station.

Leopardo, the construction firm hired by the village, and Dewberry, the project's architects, had to design the building on the highest edges of the property to avoid a floodplain. The village selected the site because of its proximity to Roosevelt Road, a busy commercial corridor that generates more 911 calls than other parts of town.

Crews have completed roughly 60 percent of the project since breaking ground last July. The work also remains on budget, Holmer said.

Much of the facade - a mix of stone and fiber cement - is installed along Park Boulevard. Inside, the building will feature a community room with about 50 seats for public meetings.

"It's definitely an improvement for the neighborhood," Holmer said.