Glen Ellyn moves forward with design of new police station
Glen Ellyn trustees on Monday hired two firms to design and build a new police station near Panfish Park, a project the board has capped at $12 million.
The village plans to break ground on the long-awaited building - likely two stories high and roughly 35,000 square feet - in spring 2016. It will replace the existing station, tucked into a section of the downtown Civic Center, a former junior high that police have outgrown.
A selection committee reviewed seven teams of architects and general contractors that applied for the job. Police Chief Phil Norton, Deputy Chief Bob Acton, Village Manager Mark Franz, Village Attorney Greg Mathews and trustees Dean Clark and Timothy O'Shea sat on the committee.
After interviews, the panel recommended hiring Leopardo, the construction firm, and Dewberry, the architectural firm and Leopardo's subcontractor. The board unanimously approved the committee's pick Monday.
"We have very high expectations," Village President Alex Demos told the design-build team.
Dewberry also did a study four years ago on the existing station, an 11,000-square-feet portion of the Civic Center's first floor. The study showed "significant shortcomings" with space and safety, Norton told the board.
Police long have raised security concerns in a municipal parking lot they share with village employees. They also say there's a shortage of space for storing evidence and records. And investigators interview suspects in rooms next to offices for department brass, a layout that poses privacy issues.
The village will pay for the new station via proceeds from the recent sale of $13.4 million in bonds. About $1.5 million from the loan will finance a separate project designed to lessen flooding when Lake Ellyn overflows and the purchase of two homes on Riford Road. One would be demolished and the other would be sold once that work is complete.
Officials haven't drawn up architectural renderings or determined the final cost, but the board has agreed to spend up to $12 million on the police station, to be built on land the village owns off Park Boulevard a few blocks south of Roosevelt Road.
Under the terms of a deal outlined Monday, Leopardo will receive a "design and construction fee," worth 2.5 percent of the project's cost as well as insurance and bond expenses. If the project comes in under budget, the village would get 70 percent of the savings and Leopard would get 30 percent, an agreement that officials say will incentivize the company to keep costs at bay.
Several trustees commended the committee for the negotiations with the firm.
"Ultimately, I think this is going to really pay off for the community," Norton said.