By Eric Schelkopf, Kane County Chronicle (Geneva, Ill.)
North Aurora, Ill. — The village’s police station is so crowded that officials use part of a prisoner shower room for storage.
“We are busting at the seams,” Police Chief Tom Fetzer said of the 4,600-square-foot station that opened in 1990 as an addition to the village hall.
And the village’s booming growth is only adding to the problem.
The 12,000-square-foot village hall and police station at 25 E. State St. on the east side of the Fox River, cannot expand because it is in a flood plain.
Village trustees have considered building a new 35,000-square-foot village hall and police station. Architect Mark Bushhouse estimated a new complex would cost $11 million, plus an additional $1.5 million in acquisition costs.
Trustees also have considered purchasing the former Farmers Insurance building at 150 S. Lincolnway, now known as the Fox River Corporate Center, for a new village hall and police station.
The building has been vacant for several years.
Bushhouse said the cost to renovate the former insurance building would be $8.5 million, plus an additional estimated acquisition cost of between $3 million and $5 million.
Village Trustee Max Herwig recently said there is a greater need for a new police station than a new village hall, and urged the board to proceed with new quarters for the police station.
But Fetzer said that he wants a joint village hall and police station.
“I don’t want the police department to go off by itself. It is a cohesive team. Everybody functions together,” Fetzer said.
There also is not enough room for the department’s 24 officers. Office space is at a premium.
The police department has 24 officers and two full-time clerks. The number of officers will decrease to 23 when Sgt. Steve White retires this summer.
“At this point, we are tripping over each other,” Fetzer said.
The department also has had to scramble at times to find space for prisoners because the station only has two holding cells that can safely accommodate four people.
“We have had instances where we have more prisoners than space to hold them,” Fetzer said.
And the department must hire more officers to keep up with growth, especially on the village’s west side.
Fetzer said he plans to ask village trustees next year to hire four new officers.
“With the western expansion, the town is getting pretty wide. With the new development coming, we need another patrol district out there,” he said.
The village’s population is expected to top out between 15,000 and 18,000. The 2000 census showed the village with a population of 10,585, but officials believe it has added 1,000 residents since then, bringing its population to about 12,000.
The department has two patrol districts, one east of the Fox River and one west of the Fox River. Fetzer said a third patrol district is needed because of the new homes being built in the village.
Village Administrator Rob Nelis Sr. said the village hall is experiencing a similar space crunch. For example, filing cabinets are in the board room because there is not enough space.