Summer opening possible for new North Aurora police station

North Aurora is targeting late summer for the opening of a new village police station, which has been under construction since June.

Village President Dale Berman said crews were able to complete most of the exterior brick work by early December due to the mild weather, and so far there have been no cost overruns or other surprises.

"It's on schedule and on budget - I don't know how you could do any better than that," Berman said. "Everything is going as planned."

The $10 million facility is being built on a former parking lot for an off-track betting parlor on the west side of Route 31, at Airport Road.

At 25,000 square feet, the new station will give police more than five times the amount of space they currently occupy in a 4,600-square-foot addition to village hall that was built more than 20 years ago.

Officials broke ground in June and hope to transition from exterior to interior work as early as this month. If all goes well, Berman said, the facility could open in July or August.

"There have not been any problems whatsoever labor-wise, or even the small things that come up when you're doing a project of this size," he said. "(The weather) certainly helped us maintain our schedule. They were still laying brick early in December."

With the construction in full swing, Berman said the village board is turning its attention to renovations that may be needed at village hall to make the most of the space.

One idea is to convert some areas for use by village trustees, who otherwise don't have official village offices, he said.

"It'll be interesting to see how we can make it work," Berman said. "We're trying to see what we need to do to move in and spread out."