In the fall of 2014 the Village Board selected FGM Architects who specialize in Police Station and law enforcement architectural design to prepare a Police Station Feasibility Study for Arlington Heights.  The objective was to hire an architectural firm to prepare a Feasibility Study for utilizing the current Police station site and Municipal Campus including Village Hall.  Schematic concept plans have been developed providing a “best fit” police station option on the existing Municipal Campus.  The overriding goal is to determine whether a new Police Station meeting modern day standards could be feasibly developed upon the existing Municipal Campus.  Since commencing the study, the consultants have completed a series of multi day meetings with Police command staff and department divisions to evaluate current operations, needs, and objectives.  FGM Architects have also conducted a series of meetings with the Police Station Committee. 

The Police Station Committee consists of the following representatives:

 Thomas Glasgow - Village Trustee 

James Tinaglia - Village Trustee 

Charles Witherington-Perkins - Director of Planning & Community Development

Diana Mikula - Assistant Village Manager                         

Gerald Mourning - Chief of Police                         

Nick Pecora - Police Captain                         

Tom Kuehne - Director of Finance                         

Cris Papierniak - Assistant Director of Public Works                         

Steve Hautzinger - Design Planner 

On October 10, 2014 the Village Board Committee-of-the-Whole met and provided input on the project goals and questions that must be answered as part of the scope of work.  

On January 20, 2015 the Board met and reviewed the programmatic space needs analysis prepared by FGM Architects and reviewed conceptual site plans.  This meeting with the Board was one of several “check in” points in the process to obtain input from the Village Board. 

Project Status 

Since receiving input from the Village Board at the last meeting, the following activities have taken place regarding this project. 

1. The site concept plan presented in January has been further modified.  The concept plan provides on-site parking needs to meet the Police Station and Municipal Campus operations while also outlining additional options for providing future parking in the Northwest Plaza area should it become necessary or desirable.  

 2. Use of the Village Hall fourth floor was further explored, including the pros and cons of including various components of the Police Department at the fourth floor as well as an evaluation of the Village Hall storage needs.  It is estimated that the existing long term basement storage for Village Hall has about 20% capacity remaining.  Each Village Hall department was surveyed to determine their long term storage needs.  While the use of electronic technology has reduced storage needs, there are still documents that need to be retained.  Therefore, a plan for using the fourth floor for some Police Station functions as well as allowing additional storage space for Village Hall functions has been developed. 

3. Soil borings have now been taken in the area where the proposed Police Station will be constructed, as well as the northwest corner of the Municipal Campus.  These soil borings were taken to determine construction type and potential impacts that they may have on the construction budget. 

4. FGM and the Committee have explored the use of other municipal buildings and properties in order to minimize cost.  These include: 

a. Fourth floor Village Hall 

b. Former Fire Academy building 

c. Public Works annex 

d. Utilization of existing on-site parking 

Concepts and uses of these properties for Police Station functions will be presented at the meeting. 

5. FGM has prepared conceptual budgets for the new Police Station considering five different options. 

Preliminary Project Goals 

At each stage of the process it is important to reconsider the preliminary project goals approved by the Village Board in November: 

1. Determine whether a new police station meeting modern day standards can feasibly be developed upon the existing municipal campus. 

2. Develop a cost effective solution that maximizes the budget and is not “overdone”.  The budget should be less than what was proposed in 2010 which is believed to be too high.

3. Understand this is a utilitarian building and this being used 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and needs to stand up to the wear and tear necessary for a police station.

4. Ensure duplicity is taken advantage of.  Spaces can be shared with the Village Hall if it can be done effectively, i.e. if the building is connected to the Village Hall. Share functional spaced for various functions to the greatest extent possible. 

5. Develop a solution that is secure.  Safety of the officers is paramount.  This issue supersedes cost. 

6. Complement the architecture already on the campus remembering that it is a police station in a cost effective way.  The building needs to be presentable from all sides and the front needs to be complementary to the exiting Village Hall and Fire Station. 

7. Make sure the police department has a highly functional building where they can do their job efficiently. 

8. Design the police station to be flexible for future changes. 

9. Provide adequate workout facilities dedicated to the Police Department. 

10.Provide a firing range within the police station that is safe, functional and meets the needs of the department. 

11. Evaluate the site for maximum benefit and efficiency.  The solution should utilize the entire site.  Nothing is to be taken as sacred. 

12. Covered parking should be provided for marked patrol vehicles. 

13. Maximize the size of the parking garage. 

14. Explore sustainable and environmentally friendly components at no extra cost and/or explore grant funding sources. 

Budget 

FGM Architects has prepared conceptual budgets for the proposed Police Station and the five different scenarios will be presented at the Village Board meeting: Next Steps The following is a summary of initial next steps: 

1. Direction from the Village Board regarding preferred option. 

2. Preparation of a final report by FGM. 

3. Presentation of the final report to the Village Board. 

4 Preparation of a Request for Proposal for architectural services to prepared construction drawings.

Recommendation

The Police Station Committee is seeking feedback from the Village Board regarding the preferred option for the Police Station concepts.