South Barrington’s police department needs a new building more than double the size of Police Chief Timothy Lonergan’s initial estimate and costing at least $1.2 million, according to three architects consulted by the village.
The Village Board has earmarked less than $400,000 in its budget for capital improvements.
As part of its study on a possible police facility expansion, the South Barrington Public Safety Committee interviewed representatives of three architectural firms that have recently completed similar projects.
Lonergan originally estimated that to meet the department’s needs over the next 10 years, the new facility would need to be about 3,500 square feet, roughly three times the size of the current space.
The architects, however, recommended Tuesday night that the village consider building a public safety facility of between 7,800 to 8,800 square feet. Their construction estimates for a new, free-standing South Barrington police station ranged from $1.2 million to $1.5 million.
The proposals all suggested constructing the building behind the Village Hall, 30 S. Barrington Rd. The police department currently shares the Village Hall with all other municipal offices.
After listening to the architects’ presentations, Village Trustee Gregory Scurto, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said the committee will have to scrutinize police staffing needs.
“We’re really going to have to go through the architects’ proposals and talk with our own staff to determine what our village needs,” Scurto said.
Scurto said the committee hasn’t ruled out expanding the Village Hall rather than building a separate police station.
