Glendale Heights ready to start on new police facility
Not much has changed with the Glendale Heights Police Department's headquarters since Deputy Chief Tom Bialas joined the force in 1982.
Most of the department's operations still are housed in the east wing of the village's civic center, although in 1984 the department also took over the entire basement.
Over the years those quarters have become cramped and dated with a leaky roof.
Relief is on the way, though, as part of a $13 million renovation and expansion of the civic center that seeks to remedy those problems.
Bialas says the proposed improvements will transform the workplace conditions police officers face on a day-to-day basis.
“It will be a positive work environment,” he said. “It's nice to walk into a work space that was specifically designed and prepared to be a police department.”
The village plans to rebuild the west entrance and create a large lobby. When completed, all police operations will be just north of the lobby.
The renovation and expansion will add about 40,000 square feet to the north end of the building. The space will include a firing range, training rooms, a new booking area and more modern jail cells.
Village officials will break ground for the project on Thursday, Nov. 18.
The size of the department has more than doubled since Bialas arrived, but he says the building has remained the same.
“We have grown substantially but the building is the same one,” he said. “Everybody is pretty excited that we're going to be moving into a new facility.”
The project will be paid for with money borrowed through federal Build America Bonds, which give the village a chance to save 35 percent in interest payments.
“We have a lot of officers working out of the basement,” said assistant village administrator Roger Mabbitt. “That's just not a healthy environment. It will be a better and healthier environment for them.”
The work is not expected to be complete until spring 2012. But Bialas said he's OK with the wait because it will finally mean an end to the cramped conditions he has dealt with his entire career.
“When I started, we had radios in the cars and shotguns,” he said. “Now we have computer systems, printers, multiple radio systems, we're carrying multiple types of equipment, like riot gear, etc. Part of the new building is the availability of some extra storage space. The older lockers suffice, but it comes down to having a good feeling when you walk into a place instead of bumping shoulders when I'm just trying to get to my locker.”