The Schaumburg Public Safety Building's newly completed addition gives the police department 19,200 additional square feet of operational space. The addition is shown above and includes the five bay windows on the right.

Police Facility Expanded To Serve
Schaumburgs Growth Needs

When the Schaumburg Police Department holds "open house" for its remodeled and expanded 62,000-square-foot Public Safety Building in September, the public will have the chance to tour the modernized facility and inspect the building's new addition.

"In carefully planning the $3 million expansion program, we closely maintained our interior circulation pattern while we enlarged existing areas and built additional space to adequately house our required functions," says Police Chief Ken Alley. "We are confident that we succeeded and now have an up-to-date, state-of-the-art facility to serve the Village of Schaumburg and its projected growth until the year 2000."

Alley says his department's four divisions: administrative, patrol, technical services and investigation, have all gained the additions each had required for some time, including offices, conference rooms and an expanded records area.

"A classroom has been added to the lower level of the building to facilitate the training needs of our 136 sworn police officers," says Alley, "and a new physical fitness center is available. Also on that level are modernized locker rooms, an expanded parking garage, storage areas for reclaimed stolen property including an entire room of bicycles in all sizes, and an OSHA-approved five-position pistol range."

Alley adds, "Our new communications center on the upper level is state-of-the-art with both radio and computer capabilities to on-street patrol units," Alley says. "Communications officers can be observed by visitors through a wide glass window without outside noise or visual interruptions to their jobs. A new 911 phone system will be in place to aid residents in emergencies."

The expansion program has also provided more space for the continually updated computer technology used in day-to-day operations by each police division. The additional computers have streamlined record keeping, crime analysis, accident prevention measures and police training programs, as well as the enormous clerical functions of the large police department.

Plans for the building's remodeling and expansion were drawn-up after an exhaustive study was completed by the architect, Larocca Associates, from detailed information submitted by the police department. After analyzing the existing police building site, Larocca, suggested an eastern expansion as the most feasible plan, because the existing public access entrance, courtroom functions, firing range and holding facilities on the west were considered adequate. Also, the existing parking lot on the north limited growth in that direction.

Built in 1975, the original Schaumburg Public Safety Building was situated toward the back of its site, com-

August 1989 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 7

manding a view of the surrounding area. Its pleasing proportions were achieved by countering the strong horizontal line with a roof-top penthouse. The building's grade slopes gently away on all sides - north and east towards a lake and south towards Schaumburg Road, a major east-west thoroughfare.

As suggested in the Larocca study, the new eastern expansion of 19,200-square-feet boasts an extension of the steel frame and attractive brick and glass facade of the original building and extends that strong horizontal line. Proportions are similar by letting the grade gradually drop below the floor line at the extreme eastern end and by continuing the existing penthouse across the building, tying into a new, taller mechanical penthouse. Overall dimensions for the addition are 100-feet by 120-feet on two levels.

The original building was organized into three distinct functional areas that still basically remain the same. The court room with auxiliary spaces and the detention area are located on the west side with the eastern half of the original structure occupied by the police department proper. Dividing the two halves is a major circulation spine running north to the secured police entrance and south to the public entrance. Security and control are provided by a front police desk which monitors the spine. Publicly oriented divisions—administration and technical services (records area)—are located directly off the public entrance. Police and staff oriented divisions—the patrol division and investigation division are directly off the secured police entrance.

The new expansion preserves that security. The public still enters from the same south entrance facing the front desk, but a remodeled and semi-secured vestibule east of the entrance will allow police-approved public access to the records area, the crime prevention office or the traffic interview room.

The growth of the Schaumburg Police Department in less than 30 years has paralleled the tremendous growth of the village it serves. When Schaumburg had a population of 800 back in the sixties, police headquarters moved from a building on a ranch to a private house in the village's first planned unit residential development. As more officers were added, new quarters were set up in the basement of a barn which also housed the village's first council chambers and court room combination. The police department moved to its current address in June, 1976 when the village had a population of approximately 40,000 people. Today, the department serves approximately 68,000 residents and possibly three times that figure during weekdays when its booming business and commercial areas come alive.

"Schaumburg is no longer a small community as evidenced by its various retail, office and night-life atmosphere," says Alley. "The Schaumburg Village Board has recognized the needs that growth requires and has addressed these needs in buildings such as the new Public Safety Building." •

Page 8 / Illinois Municipal Review / August 1989