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Mount Prospect plans new police station in Kensington Business Center

Mount Prospect has chosen a location for a new police headquarters to replace the current downtown location, which a recent study determined to be obsolete.

Village officials confirmed Friday that the new center will be at 799 Biermann Court, in a building that will be repurposed in the Kensington Business Center. The matter is up for discussion at Tuesday's village board meeting.

According to the agenda documents, it will cost more than $5 million to acquire the industrial building.

The building, the village says, is in good condition and is on the end of a cul-de-sac. It fronts on Kensington Road, an IDOT roadway that will allow quick access to Rand Road.

The village said IDOT indicated it will work with the village to permit driveway access to Kensington Road for police business.

The 103,126-square-foot building was built in 1982. Its flexible design, the village says, offers several advantages for a police headquarters, including modern training facilities and the ability to integrate all law enforcement functions on the same floor.

In addition, it would provide police the advantages of an at-grade evidence garage as well as greater separation of witnesses and victims from offenders. Both are lacking in the current facility on Northwest Highway.

The village anticipates construction costs in the range of $22 million, a $10 million savings over a completely new facility.

Ground could be broken as early as late this year.

To pay for the building, the village staff is working on a plan that includes refinancing bonds and drawing down excess reserves.

Raymond Lee, whose Oak Brook-based firm, FGM Architects, was hired by the village for $24,000, told village board members late last year the police department, which occupies 34,000 square feet of the downtown facility it shares with the fire department, should have 81,000 square feet.

Lee said the building the police department is using, built in 1993, has failed to keep up with changes in police operations. Today, for example, the department has a crime-free housing coordinator, units to address narcotics and gang crime, and a social worker.

Police also outlined safety concerns, including the lack of secure parking for police; for example, an officer's personal car can be parked next to a car belonging to someone who has been arrested. An area where DUI offenders are brought for sobriety tests contains a potential for harm from a metal bench and metal counter.

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