New Elmhurst Police Station's Costs Questioned

ELMHURST, IL – An Elmhurst committee on Monday pondered a new police station, with alternatives ranging from $39 million to $97 million.

Public Safety Committee members rejected the priciest options, which involved versions of a combined city hall and police station.

That left officials with two choices. One of them is to renovate the 34-year-old station at 125 E. First St. and build an addition, a project that is estimated to cost about $40 million.

The other option is that the city could build anew on the site, costing up to $47 million. In both cases, the station would be a lot larger.

In the late 1980s, the city set a budget for the new building and then asked the architect to work within that limit, officials said. That situation was described as a mistake.

Raymond Lee of Oak Brook-based FGM Architects said the existing building has many problems, particularly with security. For instance, inmate transfers involved many swinging doors, which is "just really not safe," Lee said.

"There's really not enough segregation of the public areas and secure areas," said Lee, who specializes in designing police stations. "They go through public areas to move evidence, ammunition and weapons. I have seen it personally. They take carts of stuff, they have a whole pile of rifles going through a public area."

Alderman Jacob Hill said he would love a new building if money weren't an issue. But he said it was.

He suggested using the building's existing footprint and possibly moving certain functions to other sites. The basement gun range was one option.

Hill also said the police department appears to have done well with the existing station.

"Would a renovation and a new station result in positive outcomes for public safety?" he said.

Alderman Mike Brennan said it would be worthwhile to examine using the building's existing footprint.

Police Chief Michael McLean said the support staff is needed near police officers, saying the department is much more efficient that way. He suggested the department could become "dysfunctional" if certain parts moved to other sites.

A study showed Elmhurst's police station is far smaller than those in other area towns when measuring square footage per officer.

Mayor Scott Levin said the city needed to invest in the station.

"I don't want to repeat the mistake made in 1988 – make a budget and try to make it work. This is Elmhurst. Our police department is very important," the mayor said. "We need to come into this century."

Brennan said he agreed with the mayor, but added, "I think we'd be remiss if we didn't ask questions."

Levin and others also said if the city waits too long, the police station's costs would continue going up. Local officials have seen that with the proposed new train station. It is now estimated to cost $40 million, up from $25 million four years ago.

For the police station, Brennan said the city should look into offsetting the costs with income from sources such as property sales and outside grants.

The committee made no decisions. It did not discuss where the city would get tens of millions of dollars to pay for the police station.