Libertyville OKs plan for regional 911 center
A $35 million facility to consolidate 911 and other services from several communities on Lake County's government campus in Libertyville is moving closer to construction.
The Libertyville village board last week approved the final development plan for the Regional Operations and Communications facility on the 172-acre county campus that extends north and west from Milwaukee Avenue and Winchester Road.
Village approval was needed to ensure the facility conformed to a 20-year master plan for the property as the project transitions from the design to construction stage. Groundbreaking on what will be a two-year process to build and equip the facility is expected to begin this summer.
The single-story, 37,426-square-foot building is planned for the northwest area of the campus. The estimated construction cost is $35 million and the total project cost is about $46 million, according to county spokesman Alex Carr.
The facility will be the culmination of a yearslong effort to establish a multiagency emergency communications center.
Agencies that have committed to the facility include Lake County, the Lake County sheriff's office and CenCom E911, which provides emergency dispatch services for Antioch, Hainesville, Round Lake, Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights and Round Lake Park. Others include Fox Lake, Gurnee, Lake Zurich, Mundelein, Vernon Hills and Waukegan.
The new building will provide better service, reduce emergency call transferring, and improve emergency response coordination when many agencies and organizations are needed, Carr said.
The Libertyville campus master plan, enacted in 2012, created eight zones and approved land uses within each zone, according to John Spoden, the village's community development director.
Each zone varies in size and accommodates a variety of permitted uses and prohibits others. The master plan includes standards for landscaping and building architecture, for example.
Among the county operations already located in Libertyville are the division of transportation, the public works department, the central permit facility and a sheriff's patrol substation. The county-run Winchester House nursing home on the campus was razed in 2021.
Several elements are planned to make the building sustainable, including obtaining LEED Gold certification and meeting International Living Futures Institute standards for achieving net-zero energy, meaning it will generate as much or more renewable power than it needs to operate.
Energy for an all-electric building would come from a geothermal system to be installed and a 3.9-acre solar array. For comparison, the building and parking lot will cover about 6 acres.
A portion of the structure will be built to withstand up to an F4 tornado, as well as blizzards and floods. The interior also is designed for people's wellness, according to county officials.
Lake County officials have emphasized 911 services are not being taking over by the county but will be led by a new intergovernmental cooperative. In January, the county board authorized a $580,000 agreement with Cotter Consulting of Chicago to manage construction.