Village OKs designer for police station plans, while residents request minimal impact to Howard Park

Wilmette officials outlined the road ahead for a project that’s forecasted to be the village’s largest public facility investment in 50 years and an endeavor that’s been more than two decades in the making. 

Village trustees met Thursday, Nov. 14, for a special session to approve two resolutions that will kickstart development of a new police station in Wilmette. 

During the meeting, which was the 17th public session devoted to the project thus far, trustees unanimously greenlighted a contract not to exceed $340,220 with FGM Architects for schematic design services while also approving an agreement not to exceed $44,100 with CCS International for owner’s representative services. 

Selecting an architect for the project was a “multi-step process,” said Brigitte Berger-Raish, Wilmette’s engineering and public works director. The village received eight proposals for the project and narrowed it down to two finalists.

FGM provided “the most competitive proposal,” Berger-Raish said, noting that village officials anticipated to pay about 6.5-8% of construction costs for architectural services. FGM’s proposal came in at 6.2%, per village documents. 

The approved contract is just for schematic design services related to the project, which Berger-Raish said is the first phase in a series that will “get us to the point where we can go out to bid for construction.”

Several checkpoints are built into the timeline of the first phase, officials said Thursday, remarking that the goal is for the first checkpoint to occur at the Village Board’s January meeting. 

In the time from now until the first checkpoint, officials will continue work on refining the space-needs study with the overall goal of minimizing the impact of the building size — a point officials emphasized several times in Thursday’s meeting.

“Each of these steps as we move forward are opportunities to further refine the project scope as we look to reduce the size of the building and the cost of the project while still ensuring that we meet the public safety needs of our community,” Village Manager Mike Braiman said. 

The second checkpoint will come after the schematic design work, per Berger-Raish. The approved contract includes at least three different designs. Village staff will take those designs back to the board for review to ensure trustees are “comfortable with the layout of the building and parking lot,”  Berger-Raish noted. 

The third checkpoint will allow officials to further explore the more specifics regarding what the building will ultimately look like while also reviewing elements such as stormwater management and sustainability features.

Officials plan to have an updated, more precise project timeline and cost estimate at the end of the three checkpoints. 

The goal is to have the full design ready by April, Braiman said. 

Project’s ‘encroachment’ on Howard Park gives some neighbors pause

Wilmette residents who live near the police station are expressing concern with how the large-scale development might impact one of the village’s signature parks. 

As previously reported by The Record, Wilmette officials announced in late October that the village wants to build the new police station on the same site as the current one at 710 Ridge Road, an approximately 1-acre property adjacent to Howard Park.

Braiman said during the Nov. 14 meeting that village officials intensively considered all the various sites available in the community for six to eight months before determining the existing property was the most viable option. 

The current location offered the village “a great site,” Braiman said, noting that it’s “centrally located in the community and it has good frontage along Ridge Road.” 

Since making the decision to move forward with constructing the new station at the existing site, village officials have noted that “a functional and modernized new station may need to encroach into the southwest playing field of Howard Park.” 

Several residents expressed worry regarding just how much impact the new station could have on Howard Park. 

Resident Kelly Gouss, who lives on Washington Avenue near the police station, said she was in favor of the police station staying where it is and supported a new facility but hopes that the impact of Howard Park will be taken into consideration. 

“We’re concerned about the potential encroachment on Howard Park … which serves as a valuable community space,” Gouss said. “Many sporting events take place (there) not only in the lower fields but in the upper fields as well, and obviously we just really don’t know what encroach means. But it could impact the beautiful green space and of course we would be concerned about impacting the ability for kids and families to spend time there and other environmental impacts.”

Wilmette’s Marcia Corba said she and others in the community have a “little bit of reserve” on how the new station will use part of Howard Park. 

“I agree that the station needs to be updated, so I think that this is a wise decision that you’re making but I think you’re going to get pushback from moms like me, I really do,” she said. 

Resident Terry Bernero, who lives just west of the police station, near the existing parking lot, said he moved the location of his garage to the west side of his property so his family could have a view of Howard Park instead of the parking lot.

Bernero said the move “was the perfect solution” and has “worked very well” for his family while also noting that the police department has been a “great neighbor.” 

“I hope you consider this in any plan that you come up with,” Bernero said. “I’m almost 80 years old; I don’t want to lose my view of this park.” 

Howard Park, which is owned by the Village of Wilmette, is approximately 11 acres. Based on the initial space-needs study, which recommends a facility around 60,000 square feet, the village would need roughly 3 acres for the new facility, according to Braiman. The current police station is just over 21,000 square feet and 1.14 acres. 

But limiting the impact on Howard Park will be a priority for officials moving forward. 

“We know that there is a possibility that a larger station could push its way into the southwest portion of the park and one of our priorities over the next three months as we engage our architect is to come up with various concept plans and show how we can mitigate those impacts into the park,” Braiman said. 

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