Palatine Approves Contracts for New Police Headquarters

Palatine’s new police station under construction near North Hicks Road and Northwest Highway is more than a million dollars under budget and on schedule to be completed later this year.

The new police headquarters will double the size of the current 37,000 square foot police station at 200 E. Wood Street. A parking garage at the new police station will take up an additional 20,000 square feet. Palatine Village Manager Reid Ottesen said the headquarters, which has an overall price tag of about $22 million, is expected to be completed and ready by December.

 “The project is running more than $1 million under budget, which ultimately means less money taxpayers would have to help pay back down the road,” Ottesen said.

The new building will include a shooting range and long term storage in the basement, and the main floor will house the front desk, the patrol division, records and detectives offices. The second floor will include administrative offices, locker rooms and a 75-seat crime prevention training room.

“A lot of time and energy went into the crime scene technology areas as well as space for the continual training of our force,” said John Koziol, police chief. “This is the wave of the future, so we planned accordingly.”

The Palatine Village Council Monday approved contracts for the installation of fiber optic cables to support the emergency communication network as well as the purchase of furniture for the new police headquarters near North Hicks Road and Northwest Highway.

One firm, IHC, was the low bidder at $19,850 to install fiber optic cables running underground between the Fire Station 82 at 1475 Hicks Road and the Hicks Dundee water tower.

The connection will support communications at the fire station and at the new police headquarters. In the future other local units of government might utilize the infrastructure through leases with Palatine.

“The library, and [school] District 211 and 15 could utilize the network, which could save them money in the long run,” Ottesen said.

Another firm called Unite Private Networks was awarded a 20-year lease for the fiber optic cables maintenance system. The company’s low bid came in at $185,400, which was $114,600 less than was budgeted.

Four separate contracts were awarded to the lowest bidders for the purchase of furniture for the police headquarters.

They are OEC Business Interiors for $32,367.32, Business Office Systems for $388,504.10, Contract Resources, Inc. for $96,522 and KI Equipment for $15,096.47.

“A large majority of the furniture in the current police station is antiquated, but some storage and shelving will be moved to the new building,” Ottesen said.

The bids, in total, came in $200,000 under budget.

Ottesen attributes the savings to putting all of the contracts out for state bids, so the village was able to lock the vendors in at low prices to save as much money as possible.

“We are buying mostly metal furniture so that it will hopefully last for the next 30 to 40 years,” Ottesen said.

Another feature of the new headquarters will be a heated parking garage, which is also expected to generate cost savings.  

“We spend $22,500 per squad car and an additional $25,000 on the equipment inside the vehicle. Temperature controlled parking will help to prolong the life of our police vehicles,” Ottesen said.  

Ottesen said the inside building construction is moving quickly, and now the village is waiting for bricklayers to complete their job.