St. Charles holds groundbreaking for new police station

A ceremonial groundbreaking Monday evening kicked off the construction of a new, more efficient police station in St. Charles.

The 56,000-square-foot facility slated for 1515 W. Main St. will include a wellness center and training room, a squad car garage with a drive-in bay and a second-floor community room that can be used by the public. It also will have a more modern and sensible layout than the existing station in downtown St. Charles, city officials said.

Plans for a new police station have been in the works since the police department participated in a needs assessment three years ago. The city council settled on a site - the former Valley Shopping Center - and approved hiring Lake Bluff-based Riley Construction as the construction manager last year.

The nearly $25 million project is expected to be complete by the fall of 2019.

Meanwhile, Pingree Grove village officials broke ground on a new municipal center that will include village hall and public works.

The current village hall is housed in two double-wide trailers, an accommodation that was supposed to be temporary but lasted more than a decade, Village President Steve Wiedmeyer said.

The village has allocated $4.1 million to the project, including $3 million in 20-year municipal bonds and $1.1 million from developer D.R. Horton, whose donation was stipulated in the latest development annexation agreement, Wiedmeyer said.

The 27,000-square-foot municipal center will be built on village-owned land along Reinking Road north of Water Street, about a half-mile north of the current village hall at 14N042 Reinking Road.

The building will include administrative offices, a village board meeting room and a large garage for public works equipment, which currently is housed in a rented warehouse in Elgin just outside Pingree Grove, Wiedmeyer said.