St. Charles continues to think about plans for redevelopment of old police station site
St. Charles is continuing to mull what it will do with its former police station site along the Fox River, with plans to turn it into programmed open space.
The former St. Charles police station site — at 211 N. Riverside Ave., along the downtown riverfront — has been vacant since 2019, when the city’s police department moved to a new facility at 1515 Main St.
The property was considered for redevelopment in 2021, per the city’s website. But the city council at the time rejected the four proposals that had been submitted and asked city staff to hire a firm to conduct a feasibility study looking at potential uses for the site.
Last September, the city released the feasibility study, outlining the site’s potential uses and evaluating considerations like parking and utilities. Among the possibilities for the site considered in the study were reusing the existing structure, turning the area into an open space for community events or constructing commercial or residential developments.
The city has since done public engagement efforts meant to allow the local community to weigh in on these plans, hosting an open house and workshop and seeking resident input via an online survey.
From there, the city has landed on pursuing a programmed open space concept for the site.
Now the city is looking to partner with the St. Charles Park District on planning, developing and implementing the site’s redevelopment, according to city documents.
On July 20, the City Council approved of a non-binding statement of interest confirming the plans to use the site for programmed open space, expressing the city’s interest in working with the park district on it, establishing the council’s vision for the site and identifying potential amenities and features to be considered during the planning process and providing direction to staff about the planning process, per documents from the city.
Potential amenities at the site could include a skate path, small bandshell, small shops concept, space for farmers markets, passive space and things like public restrooms and art installations, according to the statement of interest.
The council is looking for city and park district staff to prepare three initial site plan concepts for council members to review, accompanied by a preliminary programming and operations plan and construction cost estimates.
The redevelopment project was also discussed at the St. Charles Park District board’s most recent meeting on July 14.
Holly Cabel, director of parks and recreation, said the park district is continuing to talk with the city about the proposed plans.
Discussion about the plans at city meetings is set to start in August, according to city documents.
A city presentation earlier this month noted that there is expected to be a workshop in September to review initial concepts. In 2026, the city is looking to narrow down its planned concept to get a preferred site plan, and, in 2027, it would be aiming to do engineering, demolition of the existing building and preparation of grant applications.