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Mount Prospect open house shows off new police building, plans

When Mount Prospect chose the new location for its police station, there were questions about whether the fire department also would move and what would happen to the current police and fire headquarters.

Visitors to a Tuesday open house at what will be the new police headquarters at 799 Biermann Court in the Kensington Business Center received some insight.

That's where the village unveiled a proposal to move the downtown fire station to the MB Financial Bank location at 111 E. Rand Road, in the triangle bounded by Route 83, Kensington Road and Rand Road.

Village Manager Michael Cassady said the property is on the market and the village has been in talks about a possible purchase.

As with the new police station on Biermann Court, the location would be an adaptive reuse. Cassady said it would save nearly $4 million in construction costs, with the actual cost in the neighborhood of $7 million.

A new fire station there would improve response times, he said.

"That location with access to both Rand and Route 83 allows for a higher quality response," Cassady said.

The moves also opens the possibility of commercial development at the site of the current fire and police headquarters, Cassady said. The site is in the downtown tax increment financing district.

"That's prime real estate on Northwest Highway," he said. Cassady added that if a mixed-use facility of six stories, 130 residential units and 60,800 feet of retail were constructed there, it could generate $15.2 million in new TIF funds for the village by 2022.

In a TIF district, increased tax revenue generated by development goes to a special fund for development-related expenses rather than being distributed to local taxing bodies.

Those plans were displayed to open house visitors on easels in the 103,126-square-foot industrial building space on Biermann Court that will eventually house the police department. The project will include an access to Kensington Road created from what is now a cul-de-sac and a new address - 911 E. Kensington Road.

The village board voted March 6 to purchase the property for $5.1 million. Renovating it for use as a police station is expected to cost another $22 million.

"I just like this new location," said Mary White, who lives near the current police station. She liked the size of the location, which would afford better use of space. "We are a little cramped, where we are now, with the fire department (in the same space)."

Nearby resident David Schein said he'd like to be closer to the police station for response time.

"I'm just south of the center of town. I'm worried about response time and where our resources are when we need them," Schein said. I'm literally two minutes from downtown. But it's not about me."

Cassady said he thinks people may have a hard time envisioning a police station at the location in the Kensington Business Center because it's now on a cul-de-sac. The situation will improve when the village creates the new access onto Kensington Road, he said.

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