Lake Forest officials have made a small change in the design of their envisioned new police headquarters by shifting the location of the tactical firing range for officers.
The city now favors placing the firing range under the building’s sallyport (the secured vehicle entryway) adjacent next to the building, instead of inside the parking garage.
“It delivers a range that is integrated into one addition that was already going to take place,” Police Chief John Burke said at the April 7 City Council meeting. “The idea was to sync the range below the sallyport and elongate the ramps that were going to be built in place for the vehicles to go up.”
Burke believed the proposed slope of the site would reduce possible noise and vibration problems coming from the range.
“We are really happy with this idea,” he said.
This is one part of the continuing preparations for the anticipated move of the city’s police headquarters next year to 1925 Field Court in the Conway Park office complex.
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The ongoing renovation of Deerpath Road is set to take on a new phase the week of April 28 when the east-west thoroughfare will be closed to vehicles both ways between Oakwood and Western Avenues allowing for tree and pavement removal.
The closure is predicted to last through the course of the construction project that is expected to finish in October, city officials said.
This is the latest chapter in the Deerpath Road renovation that began shortly after the first of the year with water main replacements. In the second part of the project, streetscape enhancements are scheduled to start in May.
In a corresponding move, two-way vehicular traffic is set to return to Bank Lane south of Deerpath. However, Bank Lane from Deerpath north to South Gate will be closed in anticipation of a renovation project on that narrow street.
That project is estimated to last until October 31, according to city spokeswoman Dana Olson.
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Separately, the City Council approved a nearly $638,000 contract for water main replacement work on a portion Ahwahnee Lane, south of Deerpath.
Vehicular access will be limited in that area during the project, which is set to start May 5 and go until June 30.
The City Council also approved a $423,000 contract for a small expansion of the Gorton Community Center patio and replacement of a lower portion of the building’s vestibule.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
