Arlington Heights selects architect for police station project

Officials in Arlington Heights have selected an architecture firm to start drawing plans for the village's new police station and intend for construction to start next year.

At Monday's village board meeting, trustees unanimously approved a contract with Chicago-based Legat Architects for $1.65 million. Although Legat was the second-lowest bid received, Village Manager Randy Recklaus said the firm's excitement for the project and strong qualifications helped push it over the edge.

Village President Tom Hayes said that selecting an architect was "a very important part of the process" toward the goal of building a new police station, which he said will fill "a critical need in the community."

The original police station was built nearly 40 years ago, and the village has stopped paying to maintain much of its out-of-date infrastructure.

Earlier this year, Arlington Heights approved a bond sale of $35 million to pay for construction and other associated costs of building a new police station on the same site.

Trustee Tom Glasgow, who is a member of the police station committee that interviewed the five architectural firms that submitted bids, said he was impressed with the Legat team's enthusiasm, creativity and previous work.

Legat Architects' portfolio includes the Waukegan City Hall, Huntley police station and village hall and the College of DuPage Homeland Security Education Center and Midwest Regional Training Center. The firm will team up with McClaren Wilson Lawrie Inc., which specializes in police station architecture and has worked on more than 250 stations around the country.

Several members of the Legat team already have connections to Arlington Heights.

Marc Rhode worked for the firm when it oversaw the design of the new public works building years ago.

"I've had my eye on this project for about a decade thinking that I really want to work with Arlington Heights again," he said.

Recklaus said the next steps for the village will be to hire a construction manager for the project and find a temporary location for the police department until the new facility is ready.