The Lockport Township Fire Protection District officially broke ground on its new training facility in Crest Hill on Monday morning.

LTFPD officials were joined by state Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel, D-Shorewood, Lockport Township Supervisor Alex Zapien, Crest Hill Mayor Ray Soliman, and several members of the Crest Hill and Lockport Township boards, to mark the occasion.

Construction at the 13-acre site, located at 20115 Division St. in Crest Hill next to the Stateville Correctional Center, is slated to begin on Tuesday with grading and ground work, according to LTFPD Chief John O’Connor.

“They have to do all the grading, and dig the pond first, and we’re hoping to get the shell of the building up before it gets really cold so we can work on the inside over the winter,” said O’Connor. “CORE Construction, the contractor, has been great to work with and we’re confident they’ll built a great facility.”

[ PHOTOS: Groundbreaking on Lockport Twp. Fire District training center ]

When completed the fire training facility will include a four-story burn tower for live fire training and emergency situation drills; classrooms; emergency vehicle maintenance bays; hazmat and car crash simulation areas; K-9 and drone search training; and a pond for water rescue drills in all weather.

In the event of an emergency or natural disaster, the facility also will be equipped to be used as a backup emergency operations center for the Will County Emergency Management Agency.

“We’re excited to get moving on it,” said O’Connor. “It’s been a long time coming.”

“As a city we are proud and excited to have this state-of-the-art facility in Crest Hill,” said Soliman. “It’s going to be a benefit for all of Lockport Township and provide better training to our firefighters and police. We think it will be the envy of many departments around the state of Illinois. It’s been a long road, but it will be worth the wait.”

O’Connor said the LTFPD anticipates construction will be complete in about one year.

One feature that may or may not be included in the final product is the planned gun range, which was anticipated to train police officers from Lockport, Romeoville, Crest Hill, and Lewis University.

The Lockport Police Department has “hit pause” on its funding of the project as the expected cost has increased from its initial proposal in order to mitigate noise concerns from residents.

Currently it is unknown if alternate funding will be found to complete this phase of the facility.

“It’s disappointing, but that has always been a separate piece from what the fire side was doing here,” said O’Connor. “If it doesn’t happen, we just need to change the grading and figure out where the dirt we were going to use for the berms will go, and that portion of the property will remain as green space and could be open to future development.”

The Lockport Township Fire Protection District Board is scheduled to discuss the change in funding and plans at its meeting on Wednesday.