Lake Forest officials are providing new details on the size and scope of its envisioned new police headquarters as well as delivering a new cost estimate for the project.
In 2024, city representatives, led by Mayor Stanford “Randy” Tack, stated the building on the 200 block of Deerpath Road, which serves as headquarters of both the police and fire departments, was no longer a good use for the police. They cited concerns over both the building’s size and its age, as it went into operation in the 1960s.
Last July, the City Council approved a $3.5 million purchase of an empty building at 1925 Field Court inside the Conway Park office complex, with the sale closing in September.
Afterward, the city retained an architectural firm to design the renovation of the building. Plus, an advisory group was convened by the city manager to offer additional guidance for the project.
After researching the situation, Police Chief John Burke updated the City Council on March 3. He said the new building would be approximately 56,000 square feet (the Deerpath Road building is roughly 22,000 square feet) with a first floor offering records space, areas for private meetings for attorneys and clients, evidence and property storage, and room for a polling place on Election Day among the intended uses.
The second floor would include the department’s administrative offices, the investigations unit, social service facilities, and a training and wellness area. He added the emergency operations center, currently located at the nearby municipal services center, would now be inside the Field Court building.
“We thought it might be better suited to be at the police department,” Burke said.
Burke noted there would be plenty of open space on both floors at first. He said as part of the study into designing the building, police officials traveled to many Chicago-area communities that recently took on the similar task of updating their facilities. He said a common thread of advice was the facility should have plenty of both open and storage space, allowing for expansion.
“What is nice about this plan is that we are strategically placing areas of future growth sporadically throughout the building and not just concentrating on one area or half a floor,” he said.
The Field Court building does have a third floor, but there are no plans for the city to use it at first. However, it may be leased out to another group with city spokeswoman Dana Olson saying there has been interest in the space from other law enforcement agencies.
Finally, staff provided three options to the City Council for the location of the firing range for officers. The choices included renovating the current range location at the Deerpath building for nearly $2.7 million, constructing a standalone range next to the Field Court building at a projected cost of more than $5.6 million, or placing it in the basement of the proposed new building for approximately $4.6 million.
While not taking a formal vote, the council members indicated support for putting the range in the Field Court building.
“It just doesn’t make sense to carve out the firing range,” Alderman Ara Goshgarian, 3rd said.
However, Burke said after the City Council meeting the architectural firm is now investigating another location for the firing range. He believes a report on that location would be delivered in about two weeks.
Overall, Burke said the projected cost for the building renovation now stands at $20.8 million plus the costs of the firing range. Last year the city estimated the renovation would be as high as $28.8 million.
City Manager Jason Wicha cautioned the city is only working with estimates now and would not know the specific costs until the project goes out to bid. He anticipates that will happen in early to mid-summer.
Besides the renovation costs, the city also has a cost estimate of $6.2 million over 10 years for capital asset management. Olson, the city spokeswoman, said some of those ongoing costs will be included in the initial project costs.
Basic operation maintenance at the Field Court Building, including janitorial services, is also estimated to cost about $250,000.
The city will also have to renovate the existing Deerpath Road building into a single-use facility for the fire department. The construction costs for that project are expected to be presented to the City Council in November, Olson said.
Officials believe the city will get a cost savings by purchasing the empty building and doing the adaptive reuse as opposed to constructing a new facility, which is being considered in other suburbs.
Olson said the city has been fielding many questions from residents regarding having the police headquarters on the western side of Lake Forest and would that impact response times.
She believed that would not be an issue.
“Unlike fire stations, where crews need to be centrally located for rapid emergency response, police officers are already patrolling throughout the community – so response times will remain fast regardless of where the police station is located,” she said.
Overall, city officials said the goal is to move into the new building by August 2026.
The city hosted open houses on March 11 and 13 at the Field Court building displaying renderings in the lobby with city staff taking questions from people stopping by.
Lake Forest residents Nancy and Larry Stack spoke with Burke in March as they supported the idea of a new police headquarters.
“I think the one we have is far too small,” Nancy Stack said. “It will be very much worth it.”
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
