New Palatine Police Station Nearing Completion

The new Palatine Police station under construction near North Hicks Road and Northwest Highway should be open after the first of the year.

The overall price tag of the project is about $22 million. The new police headquarters will double the size of the current 37,000 square foot police . A parking garage at the new station will take up an additional 20,000 square feet.

"We're looking to get in there in January," said Palatine Police Cmdr. Kurt Schroeder. "As long as everything continues to go well."

The building at 200 E. Wood St. opened as Palatine High School in 1952. In 1979, the village moved in and the police department occupied the lower level. The building, however, .

Although originally budgeted at more than $23 million, the project actually is coming in about .

Schroeder said much of the work now happening at the new station is on the interior – carpeting, tile, wiring.

"As long as the weather hold out we should be good," Schroeder said. "We've had no major bumps in the road."

Palatine Village Manager Reid Ottesen said that once the police department moves, the west end of the lower level of 200 E. Wood St. will be converted into the village's emergency operations center. The village received a $250,000 grant to assist with the cost of the conversion.

Ottesen said the eastern portion of the old station will be the new location for the Nurses Lending Closet. The center area will be used for potential storage.