Demolition Begins On Former Valley Shopping Center

ST. CHARLES, IL – Demolition has begun on the former Valley Shopping Center in St. Charles. Village officials said the demo work began this past week at the site at 1605 W. Main Street. The location will house the new St. Charles police facility and construction is expected to start later this summer, according to a post on the city of St. Charles Facebook page.

The city council voted last fall to buy 6.5 acres along the south side of the former Valley Shopping Center for $714,765 to build a new police facility, which is meant to accommodate the city’s police operations for the next 50 years.

“Locating our new police station at the Valley Shopping Center site provides our community with police services that are quite visible, easily accessible, and centrally located,” Mayor Ray Rogina said following the vote last September. “It also allows the City to rehabilitate a depressed property for a greater common good.”

Locations for the facility had been under review for about two years. The Valley Shopping Center was one of the original sites under consideration. But until recently, the site was under contract with another buyer. Until the Valley Shopping Center site became available, the city was looking at placing the new facility on city-owned property at Route 31 and Red Gate Road.

Recognizing several deficiencies with the current facility, in 2015, the city council directed the police and public works staffs to review the structure, site, and operational needs of the police department. The results showed replacing the current aging facility with a newly built structure on an alternate site was the best long-term option, according to a city news release.

Photo via the city of St. Charles Facebook page video