Elmhurst studying options for police space needs

Elmhurst officials are planning careful scrutiny of the space needs of their police department after a study showed deficiencies in the current headquarters.

The police station at 125 E. First St. is 28 years old, designed in 1988 and completed in 1990. But immediately after the department occupied the building, it was full, city manager James Grabowski said, leaving the force no room to grow.

But grow it did, police Chief Michael Ruth said Monday, especially as tactics and technology have advanced.

When the building opened, Ruth said, there were no computers inside; only electric typewriters. Now nearly everything is computerized, such as report-writing and record-keeping, and the department had to retrofit a closet into a space for specially trained detectives to investigate white-collar crimes.

When the building opened, laws didn't require permanent storage of some evidence. Now if ever there is a homicide investigation, all items related to it must be stored indefinitely, Ruth said.

"Law enforcement has drastically changed between 30 years ago and today," Ruth said. "When I look to the future, it's only going to (change) more."

These changes in tactics, along with growth in the city, led to a police station that is 73 percent too small, according to a space needs analysis conducted by FGM Architects of Oak Brook.

"It was surprising to see that we built it in 1990 based on the budget and kind of with immediate obsolescence, not using a police-expert architect," Alderman Scott Levin said, revealing some of the historical findings of the report, which said the architect was chosen based on design awards and aesthetics, and the building's size was determined by available money, not by department needs. "To me a 30-year-old building, even with all the changes that you talked about, seems kind of like a short time frame for the life of a building."

Instead of the building's current 31,310 square feet of usable space, the department needs 54,119 square feet to function efficiently.

The city could acquire the needed space by building an addition to the south and west sides of the current building; demolishing the station and rebuilding a larger one at the same site; building anew elsewhere on a 3- or 4-acre site; or conducting only necessary repairs and making do inside the 28-year-old space.

Fixing major problems but doing nothing else could cost $3.4 million to $4.9 million; building an addition and making renovations could cost $21.2 million to $22.9 million; and building a new station at a different site could cost $28.6 million to $30.7 million, according to FGM's report.

The report says much of the added space would come from redesigning poorly laid out areas, such as the "sally port" or secure garage, which lacks the space needed for easy maneuverability, transfer of evidence and unloading of detainees. Space also should be added to allow for potential staffing growth, add capacity for computer forensics, allow evidence technicians more room to operate and increase evidence storage.

Aldermen on the city council's public works and buildings committee and public affairs and safety committee met to review the space needs analysis Monday night. Alderman Jim Kennedy asked whether any police functions could be removed from the main building and conducted elsewhere.

Aside from possibly the shooting range, Ruth said no.

"There's not a lot of things we would be able to do remotely and be effective," he said.

The city was moved to complete the space needs analysis after the building's chiller gave out two years ago, requiring replacement units to be hauled in on a semitrailer. Officials said the thought was to be strategic about what to fix now and what to delay in case major repairs or new construction becomes the best option.

Grabowski said the city will continue to investigate how much it might cost to buy the acreage necessary for a relocated police station and how much the city could gain by selling the land on which the current station sits. No decisions were made Monday and discussions will continue.

"It's important for us to maintain a premiere police department," Levin said, "but to do it in a smart way."