Mount Prospect hosting open house at site of new fire department HQ
Mount Prospect will hold an open house Sept. 25 to show off the site of its new fire department headquarters and answer residents' questions about the planned facility.
Visitors to the 6 to 8 p.m. event will have a chance to tour the former bank building at 111 E. Rand Road and view conceptual floor plans, elevations and renderings of how village officials expect the finished product to appear.
The village board bought the building in May for about $1.48 million and expects to spend another $8.9 million converting it into a fire station. Fire department officials say the new headquarters will place firefighters within four minutes of 97 percent of the village, up from 83 percent with the current headquarters downtown.
"It will also enhance emergency response to Prospect High School and the community north of Euclid Avenue," Fire Chief Brian Lambel said in an announcement of the upcoming open house.
Funding for the project comes through two bond sales that village officials say should not affect property taxes.
A portion of the open house also will be dedicated to an update on construction of a new police station at 799 Biermann Court, in the Kensington Business Center, officials said. It will include floor plan information, elevations and exterior renderings of the building.
The village board bought the Biermann Court site earlier this year for $5.1 million and expects to spend about $27 million in all converting the building into a police station.
Representatives from village administration, community development, finance, public works, police and fire departments will be at the open house, as well as the design and construction teams for each project.
Construction on both projects is expected to begin in spring 2019, with work expected to take about a year for each.