Homeland Security Education Center Nominated for Patron of the Year Award

The new Homeland Security Education Center at College of DuPage has been nominated for the Chicago Architecture Foundation's Patron of the Year award.

The Patron of the Year award, sponsored by Stein Ray LLP, recognizes the role of owners and developers as “patrons” who commission, finance and execute a single building or complex of related structures. The Homeland Security Center, designed by Legat Architects, Inc., is one of 11 nominees in the Institutional category.

“In creating a facility that would best serve our students, we also wanted a building that would be a distinctive addition to the College of DuPage campus,” said John Wandolowski, director of Facilities Planning and Development at COD. “This nomination reflects our intention, and we are proud to be recognized in this way.”

Opening in August, the 66,000 square-foot Homeland Security Education Center is a comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional training center that features a full-scale indoor street scene for force-on-force exercises, forensics and cybercrimes labs, a smoke room with moveable walls, a fire and scaling tower, and a full-size ambulance for first-responder training. On the Chicago Architecture Foundation website, the HEC is described as “accentuated by a series of unpredictable episodes: façade recesses and protrusions, and height, color and material variations.”

A jury of prominent members of architecture, business, civic and philanthropic communities selects the winners. The eighth annual Patron of the Year awards ceremony will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 30. For more information, visit the Patron of the Year website.