‘We want to make it a community event’: New village hall, police department underway in Tower Lakes

A project envisioned nearly two decades ago is underway in tiny Tower Lakes, and village officials want to share their excitement.

Footings are poured and work is progressing on what will be the new village hall/police station at 400 N. Route 59. An old house, used through the years as a gas station, tea room and real estate office before village operations moved in, recently was demolished to clear the way for a new facility.

“It’s a huge deal for this little village,” Trustee Rick Steffen said. “There have been starts and stops that go back to 2005.”

There’s a groundbreaking ceremony on the site at noon Saturday, July 6, although at this point it will be more of a “hall raising” in anticipation of the walls going up, Steffen said. The event is timed for maximum exposure.

“The Fourth of July in such a big deal in Tower Lakes,” Steffen said. “People come back to Tower Lakes that lived here years and years ago just to participate in it.”

“We thought it would be a special time to celebrate the structure,” he added. “We want to make it a community event.”

Steffen, who heads the village’s grounds, urban forestry and facilities committee, said it didn’t make sense to repair or remodel that original structure -- thought to have been built about 90 years ago -- because of accessibility, structural, mechanical and other issues.

Village operations for the town of about 1,300, space for the police chief, and its 13-member, part-time force all is temporarily being housed in a Wauconda office space. The new facility is expected to be ready in eight or nine months.

Steffen said costs for labor and material have increased substantially in recent years and are expected to continue. Reserves will be used to cover the bulk of the costs associated with the $2.25 million project. RoMAAS Inc. of Glen Ellyn was the lowest of seven bidders for the work.

“There will be no tax increases as a result of this,” Steffen said.

The building will be about 5,000 square feet with space for village offices and a mixed-use community room for village board meetings and community events.

“Just calling it a board room doesn’t do it justice,” Steffen said.

A majority of the expansion is for police, he added. Besides an office, there will be an interview room, shower, locker rooms and an armory, a two-car garage for police vehicles, and storage space to be shared with the homeowners’ association.

Stone accents reminiscent of the original home also will be incorporated, and the exterior is designed to represent the community’s identity with a lake house appearance and spacious front porch.

“There’s been a lot of community input that’s driven the final design,” Steffen said.

Wold Architects and Engineers, a St. Paul-based firm that specializes in government design and has an office in Palatine, led the effort.