Northbrook officials hope buying a house immediately west of the Police Department will give them enough space to expand the department’s headquarters.
The Village Board agreed on Jan. 14 to buy the home, which sits on a one-acre parcel at 3105 Walters Ave., for $499,000.
Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said staff plans to report back to the board in 60 to 90 days on whether the additional land will provide enough space to build a new police station at the current location, on the corner of Walters and Landwehr Road.
“We will have architects and engineers look at the property and do a site fit test to evaluate, does the additional land allow for construction of a police facility in accordance with the space study we did and approved?” Pavlicek said.
Northbrook chose to buy the property because it is contiguous to the police station, she said. The village determined the need for a new station in a study about six years ago, Pavlicek said.
The current station, which spans about 45,000 square feet, was built in 1974 as a combined headquarters for the police and fire departments, she said. The fire department moved out during the 1970s, and the space was remodeled in 1996, Pavlicek said.
“It’s been a bit, but now we know with the space needs study that we need to more than double that size,” she said. “In the 1970s, policing needed different things than it needs today.”
The police department currently employs 66 officers, 27 civilian employees and three K-9s,, according to a village press release.
The current station sits on a 3.5-acre parcel, including parking, according to a village report included with the Jan. 14 meeting materials.
The report said the space study determined the department needs additional space for:
- Operational changes
- Secure parking
- Training
- Social services and counseling
- Officer wellness
- Holding facility issues
- Evidence technicians workspace
- Evidentiary vehicle processing
- Evidence packaging
- Computer forensics
“Police cars in the ’70s did not have all of the electronic equipment they have today,” Pavlicek said. “You need covered parking now. You didn’t used to need to have that. They could be out in the sun and heat all day. Nowadays that’s not good for the equipment.”
The current station also has inadequate space for staff work areas, storage, locker rooms, the communications center, a prisoner transfer space, interview rooms and a report writing room, the board report said.
Pavlicek said buying the adjacent parcel might make it easier to rebuild the station at its current location. “By purchasing the property, we’re not 100 percent taking care of the site being too small, but we created a buffer,” she said.
The existing facility is located on a 3.5 acre site with 45,115 square feet of building, and the space needs analysis presented by FGM Architects estimates a 5.63 acre site with 85,773 square feet of building, according to the Jan. 14 meeting agenda packet.
Another issue will be finding a temporary location for the department while the new station is being built, Pavlicek said.
Once an adequate site is determined, design work on the new station will take about 14 months, she said. Construction will likely take about two years, Pavlicek said.
The police department is just one of three Northbrook agencies in need of updated facilities. The space study also determined that the fire department and fleet maintenance garage need new spaces.
Last September, the Village Board bought a 2-acre residential site for nearly $1 million for use as a fire station and a center providing services to the disabled for $2.3 million for its future maintenance garage.
