Lakemoor plans to open new village hall in March
Finishing touches continue and furniture will be delivered in two weeks as Lakemoor's new municipal and police center nears completion.
Since April, the traditional-looking facility on the south side of Route 120 has steadily taken shape. Budgeted for $6.2 million, the building will consolidate operations, replace cramped quarters, centralize records and boost the community's image.
"Now we have a building to fit who we really are," Village Administrator David Alarcon said.
At 13,900 square feet, the new building is much roomier than what village staff and police have been used to. Officials said the project is on schedule and at least $200,000 or more under budget, with an opening expected in early March.
In recent years, village operations have been located in rented space totaling about 2,000 square feet just west on Route 120 at Darrell Road. That set up replaced an old garage and fire house that had been used as a village hall but was demolished because of its condition. Police have been housed in an industrial building a few miles away off Route 12 and before that a double-wide trailer.
The new building has space for current and future needs. The police portion of the building, for example, has a separate locker room for female officers, even though none currently are on the force of 12 full-timers and five part-timers.
It also features proper interview rooms and holding areas built to Illinois Department of Corrections standards, such as an actual jail cell, rather than a fenced cage, and a separate cell for juveniles. A separate booking area, live scan fingerprint system and many other features currently lacking also are included.
"We'll be going to a facility actually built for a police department rather than retrofit to get by," Alarcon said.
Throughout the building - but particularly of necessity for the police department - are security and video systems that include features that alert others if an officer suddenly is not upright and scream sensors.
Those systems are connected by 30,000 feet of wire and cable. Voice and data networks comprise another 40,000 feet of wiring for a total between the two systems of more than 13 miles of connections.
The village hall portion will be large enough to consolidate and store all village records.
The village board room will be made available for public meeting space.