Picking a design firm and finalizing a location are up next for Wilmette police station project

Wilmette officials continued to focus on a massive public facility project that’s been on the village’s docket for more than a decade and could carry a price tag north of $50 million. 

Village trustees during a special Committee of the Whole meeting on Thursday, Sept. 19, continued their exploration into a possible new police station. 

“Tonight’s presentation is very big picture about the police station,” Wilmette Village Manager Michael Braiman said. “Really this is to try and get feedback from the board, and solicit questions and comments as we go through.” 

During a nearly two-hour discussion, trustees reviewed and discussed the recommended building program and various spaces throughout the potential project. 

Trustees talked about spaces for public entry, records and reception, administration, patrol, investigations, digital forensics, evidence processing and property storage, holding facility, training and wellness, staff support areas, social services, and vehicle parking. 

They spent a majority of the session providing feedback to village staff on areas of the proposal they’d like to review or further explore. 

The informal conversation was kicked off by a presentation that included a recap of the work on the project that’s been completed thus far. 

Moving things forward

As previously reported by The Record, Wilmette officials first renewed conversations around a new police station in May of 2023 when the board of trustees approved a needs assessment and land use study. 

In February of this year, FGM Architects, presented the results of its space needs study to village officials. That study recommended a new police facility with square footage north of 60,000 and a cost upward of $55 million.  

Since those initial projections, the proposed size and scope of the project has decreased, according to village officials. The current recommendation for the facility is just over 54,000 square feet with a preliminary budget estimate of $51.4 million, Braiman said. 

Those figures represent a 7.7 percent reduction in size and 6.5 percent decrease in cost. The budget number, however, does not include any land acquisition costs. 

Thursday night’s discussion was the 15th public session discussing the project thus far. 

Toward the end of the Sept. 19 meeting, village officials outlined the plan forward while providing some details about what the next steps in the project will entail. 

Braiman told trustees that village officials will be conducting interviews with architects for the conceptual design phase of the project later this month, potentially on Sept. 30. Nine architectural firms applied to the village and four were selected as finalists, he said. 

Wilmette officials are then hoping to finalize a location for the new station. 

Per Braiman, officials are planning on holding a community open house and another committee of the whole meeting on Nov. 14 to share the project’s location. 

The next step would then be putting a contract for conceptual design services on the Village Board’s agenda, officials said. 

Financing 

During a late August meeting, village officials said they can fund the $50-million-plus public facility investment without increasing property taxes for debt service. 

Erik Hallgren, Wilmette’s assistant village manager, presented the board of the trustees during that Aug. 27 meeting with the findings of an in-depth financial analysis of financing options for the potential construction of a new police station in the village. 

In late July, trustees tasked the board’s finance subcommittee with reviewing long-term funding scenarios for the police station project with a goal of determining the total and annual debt service amounts and potential taxpayer impacts.  

Hallgren noted during his presentation that in 2017, village officials, as part of long-term financial planning efforts, pinpointed an opportunity to lessen the financial impact of a new station on the property tax base by deferring construction until roughly 2026, when he said existing debt service for prior capital improvements will be paid off.

The financing option explored the most during that presentation was the utilization of reserves. According to Hallgren, the village’s recommended reserve level is $12.2 million, which is based on a 30 percent reserve target. 

Hallgren also stated in a village memo that Wilmette’s reserve policy allows for the use of reserves to fund major capital projects. The construction of a new police station would fall under that umbrella, officials noted. 

Based on the projections presented during the Aug. 27 meeting, the village is expecting to be approximately $9.3 million over its target reserve level.

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Subscribe to The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a subscriber? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.