The Carpentersville Village Board has hired the firm that will design and oversee construction of its $35 million village hall/police station renovation and expansion project.
“This is, from a pure financial commitment, the biggest project the village has done in its history. So, it’s a really big deal,” Village Manager Brad Stewart said at Tuesday night’s board meeting.
Cordogan Clark Consulting Services Inc., with offices in Aurora and Chicago, will produce a preliminary design concept for board review in May and final design plans in October, Stewart said. Under the proposed timetable, construction would start this fall and be finished by late 2027 or early 2028.
Carpentersville began evaluating its village complex, which includes the village hall and police station at 1200 L.W. Besinger Drive when space started becoming an issue for the police department in 2023. It was built in the late 1970s and also has mechanical, electrical and plumbing issues, officials said.
Initially the idea was to build a new village hall and police station, but cost estimates put the price tag at between $70 million and $85 million.
Renovating the existing campus and adding about 15,000 square feet would be more financially feasible at a cost of about $35 million, estimates showed.
“I feel very comfortable that we (have) gone through literally years of analysis and review in making sure we locked into the approach we landed on,” Stewart said.
Cordogan Clark submitted a bid of $34.7 million when the village solicited contract proposals in October. Theirs was the lowest cost per square foot.
“We are very, very excited to get rolling on this project,” Brian Kronewitter, a company executive vice president, said at the board’s meeting. “It will be a very fast-moving project so buckle up, as they like to say.”
The firm is ready to get moving, project architect Nathan Melotte said.
“We already have our team lined up to hopefully get out here next week,” he said.
Carpentersville will need to finance the construction through a $35 million bond sale to be repaid over 25 years. Initially, the village’s annual debt will be about $2.4 million, officials said, but will be substantially lower once the village pays off three of its four existing bond issuances in 2030, officials said.
Construction will require village hall and the police station to be closed to the public for 13 to 15 months so village offices will be moved to the village’s public works building at 1075 Tamarac Drive. That’s where residents will go to make utility payments, obtain permits and handle other business.
Administrative staff will move into portable, prefabricated unit on-site and board meetings will be held at Fire Station 93, 5000 Sleepy Hollow Road.
The police department will also relocate to a prefabricated unit next to the existing police station, officials said. They’ll be looking to work with other police departments in the area for help with suspect bookings and detentions.
The cost for the two portable units is expected to be about $400,000, documents said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
