Glen Ellyn police station plans to be on display at community open house

GLEN ELLYN – Glen Ellyn residents will be able to view plans for a proposed new police station during a community open house Feb. 20.

Representatives from the Glen Ellyn Police Department and village administration will discuss the project and answer questions during the event from 9 to 11 a.m. at Glen Crest Middle School, 675 Sheehan Ave., Glen Ellyn.

Those who attend the open house also will learn about improvements to Panfish Park and Wilson Avenue that are being planned as part of the project. The station will be built adjacent to the park.

The new police station would be more than double the size of the current 11,000-square-foot facility at the Glen Ellyn Civic Center in downtown Glen Ellyn. As part of the project, parking will be improved at the park, Village Manager Mark Franz said.

"Right now, it's a gravel lot," Franz said. "It [the police station] will have a public parking lot that includes a turnaround area for buses, etc., but also for cars to access in and out."

Scrub vegetation in the park also will be removed, and new trees and landscaping will be planted, he said. In addition, a sidewalk will be installed connecting the paths in the park to the sidewalk along Park Boulevard.

"That will certainly increase the bike access and pedestrian access," Franz said.

The project is expected to start this summer. The village's Architectural Review Commission will review the plans at its meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 24, and plan commissioners will review them at 7 p.m. Feb. 25. The plans will go before village trustees Feb. 29.

Trustees are expected to vote on the police station plans in May, Franz said.

Glen Ellyn officials have capped construction costs for the station at $13.5 million. In December 2015, trustees approved a resolution authorizing and setting parameters for the village and the Leopardo-Dewberry design-build team to proceed with the design of the police station. The $13.5 million does not include the cost of property acquisition for the project.

To contain costs, trustees decided to drop a weapons training range from the station. They said the range may be built at a later date if funds become available. Trustees voted in 2015 to issue $13.4 million in bonds, the majority of which would go toward funding the station.