City of Lake Forest, IL

Project Update: March 5, 2024

Public safety is important to Lake Forest residents, affirmed by 95% of Community-Wide Survey respondents ranking overall safety as a very important factor when choosing to live in Lake Forest. The Lake Forest Police Department currently operates out of the Public Safety Building on Deerpath, which was constructed in the 1960s as a combined facility for the Police and Fire Departments. As we look to the future, the current building is not adequate to meet the space needs of both departments.     

As law enforcement has changed over the years, the City has taken creative measures to adapt and renovate the space to meet the police department’s evolving needs. In order to maintain the highest level of public safety services, the police department needs a new police station designed to accommodate modern police practices, technology, training, and equipment.

There are inherent challenges with planning for a new police station, including identifying available land or a building that could be adapted to this use. It’s important to ensure that this project is done in a fiscally responsible manner, and once completed, will serve the community long into the future. 

Unique market conditions make it financially advantageous to begin discussions about a new police station now instead of in the future, particularly in light of the importance of public safety expressed in the Community Survey.

A modern facility would be large enough to meet the current needs of police employees and the community; equipped with state-of-the-art design, technology, and equipment to make work more efficient; and adaptable to future trends and space needs for whatever the future holds.

The current Public Safety Building wasn’t designed to accommodate modern police practices, technology, training, and equipment. Along with insufficient training space and evidence storage, the building’s inefficient floor plan makes transporting detainees difficult. The Sally Port - intended for processing detainees – only has room to process one person at a time and isn’t tall enough to accommodate some squad vehicles. The social worker doesn’t have a private office to provide counseling services. Detectives and patrol officers don’t have dedicated office spaces for private conversations with victims, witnesses, and fellow officers.

The current Public Safety Building is 34,000 square feet and is shared by the police and fire departments. Many of the critical building deficiencies have a direct correlation with the amount of space required for modern police operations. The table below outlines the existing conditions that present challenges and the opportunity a new police station could provide.

The Public Safety Building was constructed in the 1960s as a combined facility for the police and fire departments. The original design of the station is not optimal for police services today and is critically deficient in several areas. As we look to the future, the current building is not adequate to meet the space needs of both departments. As policing has changed over the years, the City has taken creative measures to adapt and renovate the space to meet the police department’s evolving needs. It’s become clear that in order to maintain the highest level of public safety services, the Police Department needs a new police facility designed to accommodate modern police practices, technology, training, and equipment.

Earlier this year, studies were conducted of police facilities recently constructed in other nearby communities. The costs associated with land acquisition, new construction, and adaptive reuse of existing buildings was researched. Following the approach successfully taken by other communities, the focus turned to considering opportunities for adaptive reuse of existing buildings for primarily three reasons: 1) significant cost savings can be achieved by adaptively reusing an existing building as opposed to building new, 2) the unprecedented availability of office buildings due to the current depressed state of the office real estate market, and 3) reuse of existing buildings is more sustainable than building new.

Given the shifting commercial office space real estate environment, the City has the unique financial opportunity to acquire an existing office building for a competitive price and renovate it into a police station. Adaptive reuse of an existing building would save millions of dollars compared to the high costs of purchasing land and constructing a new building.

In alignment with the City’s commitment to financial stewardship and environmental sustainability, adaptive reuse is more cost-effective and environmentally responsible than constructing a new facility.

The three story, 98,304 square foot building at 1925 Field Court is larger than the police station’s current footprint. The police department has outgrown its current facility and needs additional space to continue modern police operations. Although the building exceeds the currently anticipated square footage needed for a police facility, it provides flexibility for the future and opens the door for discussions with other public safety agencies that may be interested in available office space. 

While the need for a new facility is clear, exactly how a new space will be designed has not been determined. A Space Needs Analysis will identify essential "need to have" elements of a modern police facility, desired “should have,” and “nice to have” spaces and components. Planning for the buildout of the interior would occur as a next step in this process, over the course of several months. The planning process will engage residents with relevant expertise and invite opinions, ideas, and questions from the community as has traditionally occurred with significant projects such as the Water Treatment Plant expansion project and most recently, the Deerpath Community Park Athletic Fields. 

It is critical for Fire Stations to be centrally located near residential neighborhoods and commercial areas to allow emergency vehicles, fire trucks and ambulances, to respond from the station, quickly. Due to the nature of policing operations, police officers are routinely patrolling throughout the community, and as a result, a centralized location is not necessary. Once a new Police Facility is available, the Fire Department will have the benefit of additional space in the existing public safety building to better support the department’s needs and operations.    

At the City Council Meeting on Monday, April 15, 2024, the Council approved various actions related to the potential acquisition of the three-story office building located at 1925 Field Court for adaptive reuse as a new police facility. 

Over the next 90 days, the City will conduct its due diligence on the property, including conducting a Whole Building and Site Assessment, a Space Needs Analysis, and a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment. 

At the end of the due diligence period in July 2024, the City Council will review findings from these various assessments and will decide whether to proceed with acquiring the property at 1925 Field Court for a new police station.

Over the years, it has become clear that the existing building is working against the police department. Not only is the building too small, but the design of the building is limiting the police department's operations and will negatively impact operations in the years ahead. The existing building footprint does not allow for increased parking and is not a sustainable option for current use or future police department growth. Additionally, options to expand are limited given the facility is shared with the fire department. The existing space and design do not meet the needs of modern policing today and will not meet future needs of police department operations.

The police and fire departments currently operate out of the Public Safety Building. If the police department moves to another location, the fire department would be able to expand operations into the full building. The fire department would absorb the vacated spaces into their operations, using the police areas for training and expanded meeting rooms, and remodel spaces to fit current and future needs.

Acquisition of the property could be financed using existing financial reserves. The City has engaged a consultant to conduct a Space Needs Analysis to provide an estimate of buildout costs. Once that report is complete, there can be an informed conversation about the costs associated with renovating the building to meet the department’s needs now and into the future.