New Palatine Police Station Opens

The new Palatine Police station near N. Hicks Road and Northwest Highway is now open.

"The move went very well considering the complexity," said Palatine Police Cmdr. Mike Seebacher.

The $22 million, 70,000 square foot building, is about double the size of the old station which was located on the basement floor of the Village Hall on Wood Street. The new station also includes a 20,000 square foot parking garage.

"We were fully operational as of Tuesday afternoon," Seebacher said. "Everyone is very pleased and impressed with the new building."

The old station never was designed for police use. It opened in 1952 as Palatine High School and the village bought it in 1979. .

For example, prisoners who bonded out or suspects who were being released would be taken to the lobby of the old station – the same place reports often were being taken. Seebacher said officers had to be careful to manage the foot traffic lest a suspected offender bump into a witness in the lobby.

Such issues will not exist in the new building.

The new station also has more capacity – 11 holding cells as opposed to six.

"This is a building that meets our unique needs and function as a police agency," Seebacher said.