Arlington Heights capital plan includes new police station

A new, $40 million police station for Arlington Heights is part of a five-year capital improvement plan unanimously approved Monday by the village board.

The board approved the FY2014-2018 Capital Improvement Program, which includes $95.5 million worth of public facility, infrastructure, and streets and equipment repairs and replacements. Under the plan, the staff will budget $17.6 million worth of capital improvements for fiscal year 2014.

A major project in the plan is the police department, which has been the subject of discussion for years.

According to the plan, the existing 38,000-square-foot building built in 1978 is deteriorating and no longer serves the needs of the police department.

The village anticipates that between fiscal year 2014 and 2017, the building would need $8.78 million worth of maintenance work just to keep the building operating. The plan calls for not spending that money but instead saving it for a later renovation or rebuilding project.

In 2008, the village hired FGM Architects/McClaren, Wilson & Laurie to conduct a needs assessment study. The study recommended that a new 75,000-square-foot facility be built that would be comparable to other area police buildings constructed in recent years.

The estimated cost to construct a new police facility is approximately $28 million, with an additional $10 million to $12 million in design, engineering, temporary relocation, demolition and other costs, according to the plan.

The village’s level of debt is expected to decrease in the later years of the five-year plan due to other bond issues expiring. That means the village could afford the new facility through bonds and would not have to go to referendum for funding, said Village President Arlene Mulder.

“We will not raise the current debt. We got the message that we need to hold the line on property taxes,” Mulder said. “The police department has been on hold for over a decade and we’re trying to get by with as little spending as possible in a lot of areas.”

She added that the current facility is significantly behind the requirements for such a structure.

For now, however, the discussion is back on hold.

In 2014, the board will discuss and make a decision about the new police facility location, with architecture and design happening in 2015 and 2016. Construction is slated to begin in 2017, with the new building being occupied by 2019.