Campton Hills village hall bigger, will save money in long run

Campton Hills village leaders have purchased a 9,200-square-foot office building to make more room for their police department and to provide some elbow room for the village staff.

Officials in the five-year-old village began moving Monday and Tuesday was the first full day at the new village hall, 40W270B La Fox Road.

Village President Patsy Smith said the building cost $800,000 and the village borrowed $762,000 at an interest rate of just under 3 percent.

The village has leased out a 1,500-square-foot space to a computer firm to help offset costs.

Although the village now has bonds to pay off over the next 10 years, Smith said the net savings will eventually be $35,000, taking into account the expense it costs to lease space at the old village hall at 40W115 Campton Crossings Drive.

“The opportunity came up earlier this year. Interest rates are low and the building’s a great price. We could have never afforded to build that building on our own,” Smith said. “If we can avoid renting, that’s great. And by having income too, that’s helpful.”

Village board meetings still will be held at the Campton Township Community Center, 5N082 La Fox Road.

The move will have the greatest effect on the police department, which had officers previously operating out of a 9-foot by 13-foot room, Police Chief Dan Hoffman said.

“We have an interview room now, which we’ve never had before. It was just very, very confining,” he said, adding that to make a private phone call he had to literally step outside the back door and talk. “It’s just a lot more conducive to running a police department with security and confidentiality.”

Hoffman said the village’s six full-time and 13 part-time officers now will each have a locker instead of taking all their gear home after a shift. The department now will also have an evidence room, but arrestees still must be taken to the Kane County jail and booked.

“You’ve got to walk before you can run. This new building is 100 times better than what we had,” he said. “We’re very grateful.”

The village plans to host an open house at the new village hall this fall.