Former Lakemoor police headquarters is up for sale
A makeshift holding cell is long gone, and so is most everything else, but what's left of the former Lakemoor police headquarters is for sale.
The building, located in an industrial park off Route 12, was at one point an upgrade for the department, which spent many previous years operating out of a double-wide trailer. But last April, police and village operations were combined a few miles away in a new, $6.5 million municipal center on Route 120 east of Darrell Road.
That made the police building at 27901 Concrete Drive expendable. Trustees recently authorized Village Administrator David Alarcon to put the site on the market as surplus property.
Alarcon said an appraisal is being done and he will try different methods to market the site before deciding whether to hire a realty professional.
"We'll see what some of the proposals will be," he said. "There have been several inquires about the building already, so there is interest."
For now, the building is being used for storage. The village board gave Alarcon authority to sell or donate office furniture and other miscellaneous items remaining inside.
Village offices were moved in 2012 from an old fire station (since demolished because of its poor condition) facing Lily Lake to small leased office space nearby.
That same year, the police department trailer across the street was hauled away and operations moved to the building on Concrete Drive. Rather than leasing space for about $4,000 per month, the village bought the industrial building for $600,000.
"The building is in a real good location for an industrial use," Alarcon said. "It's spacious and has three (truck) bays."
Sale proceeds would go into the village's general fund used for day-to-day expenses.
Police Chief David Godlewski says the department has grown from operating out of rudimentary accommodations to modern facilities and state-of-the-art equipment, including body cameras.
Also last week, the village board authorized the department to fill a job vacancy created when one of its 12 full-time officers resigned.
Alarcon said there has been a noticeable difference since the new municipal building opened.
"There's definitely more people coming in," he said. "Staff has really noticed the increase in traffic in this building, something we're not used to."