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Thoughtful And Detailed Planning Results In By GREGORY P. BOYSEN, P.E., Director of Public Works Village of Buffalo Grove
A significant event in the history of the Village of Buffalo Grove was marked on June 3,1989 when three newly constructed or significantly expanded major municipal buildings were dedicated to the service of the Village's residents by Mayor Verna L. Clayton. The completion of these three building facility improvements also marked the successful accomplishment of a major planning program which was undertaken by the Village's staff, consultants and elected officials. The $5.2 million construction project included the construction of a 28,265 S.F. Police Building, an 11,507 S.F. Golf Clubhouse and Restaurant Building and a modification and expansion of the Public Works Building which enlarged the building by 25,052 S.F. to a total floor area of 48,546 S.F. The project also included the construction of a storage facility for 1850 tons of road salt and related parking lot and other site improvements. The $580,000 renovation of the space in the lower level of the Village Hall Building which was vacated when the Police Department moved to the new Police Building and some attic type storage area construction has now been initiated as a second phase of the program to provide for 9,995 S.F. of space which is needed for the efficient operations of the Village's Planning Staff, the Department of Building and Zoning, and the E.S.D.A. function. The overall program is commonly referred to as the Village Campus Improvement Program since all of the involved buildings are located in a campus-like setting on the Village's 17.5 acre property which is adjacent to the 130 acre site of one of the Village's two 18 hole golf courses. The facilities on the Village Campus now include the Village Hall, Police Building, Public Works Building and yard area including the salt storage dome structure, the Golf Clubhouse and Restaurant Building and the Youth Center Building. The Village Campus is located directly north of Lake-Cook Road and about one block west of Buffalo Grove Road. These major arterial roads provide efficient access throughout the Village to the Police, Public Works and Inspectional staffs. Buffalo Grove has a well established high quality planning process which has contributed to the Village becoming one of the fastest growing communities in the Chicagoland area. In 1984 the Village's Departmental staffs were actively developing preliminary evaluations of existing and projected facility expansion needs. Village Manager, Bill Balling worked with the Village Board to establish the Village Campus Improvement project as an approved Village program with initial funding for preliminary facility planning and architectural consulting services budgeted for expenditure in FY85-86. FY85-86 funding was also approved for the acquisition of additional land which was needed based upon the staff's alternate preliminary site plan which was preferred by the Village Board. In accordance with the Village's standard professional consultant selection procedure a consultant selection committee composed of involved managerial and professional technical staff was appointed by the Village Manager. Based upon the recommendation of the committee, the Village Board selected the local architectural firm of O'Donnell, Wicklund, Pigozzi and Peterson as the project architects in December 1985. The Village's service contract requirements included the evaluation and documentation of the functional and physical space requirements of the involved departments through the year 2020. The consultant's analysis was required to include projections for departmental November 1989 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 7
staffing, fleet storage and parking requirements. The identification of projected ultimate (2020) facility requirements and a plan for phased construction of facilities in 10 year increments were also required along with site plans and renderings of needed facilities for each phase of construction. Due to the importance the Village placed on the consultant's development of a detailed and comprehensive facilities plan, the project architects retained the firm of Geisler Smith Associates, whose offices are located in Burke, Virginia and Los Angeles, California, to serve as the project's facility planning specialists. The staff of Geisler Smith reviewed the operations of all involved departments through a process of interviews with several key members of each department. Interviews included individual section supervisors of departments such as Public Works. The detailed insight which was gained by these interviews and the facility planning expertise of the Geisler Smith staff resulted in the compilation of very valuable interim planning reports. The project architects also developed a number of very valuable plans for future construction phases which accommodate the ultimate (2020) planned facility requirements. In March, 1986, the project architects issued a final summary report which included the schematic plans and cost estimates for the initial phase of construction which they recommended. Next, a financial analysis and plan, developed by William H. Brimm, the Village's Director of Finance and General Services, was approved by the Village Board. The plan provided for a $3.3 million Corporate Purpose Bond issuance to supplement available reserves and additional revenues which were projected to be available for the project's construction. The approved funding required additional refinement of the project's budget and deferral of certain additional construction elements. Care was taken to insure that near term needs could be reasonably accommodated and that initial construction was planned to allow for future phased additions which can be constructed as needed. The details of the architectural design and construction service agreement were finalized to accommodate the approved construction budget and the Village Board approved the final architectural design contract in October, 1986. The many details of the project plans were defined by the architects with direction provided through many interactions with the Village Board and staff. As more detailed plans were developed, a critical element of the staff reviews were the input received from individual employees who reviewed the particular portions of the facilities which they would be using. All employees were provided copies of the early concept plans and they were encouraged to review copies of the later detailed plans which were always available in the lunch room areas. Comments were routed through the supervisory structure and related back to the architects by the department heads.
The Village also closely adhered to it's own normal regulatory review procedures. The Village Campus Improvement was scheduled for reviews and Public Hearings before the Village's Planning Commission,
Appearance Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, and Village Board in the same manner as similar private developments. Regulatory reviews by the Engineering and Building and Zoning Department staffs were also performed in the normal manner. Bidding was authorized in January, 1988, with bids opened and the construction contract awarded in February, 1988. Village Officials and the project's contractor Jenkins and Boiler Co., Inc., participated in a ground breaking ceremony on March 17, 1988. The Village directly hired a Special Project Representative with architectural and construction management experience to supplement the project architect's ongoing observation of the construction project. This has worked out very well providing the Village a far greater level of observation that the position's expense could have obtained through the architecture firm. The Golf Clubhouse and Restaurant Building received new furnishings and restaurant equipment through separately bid contracts. The restaurant and golf operations are operated directly by the Village. The restaurant is managed by a newly hired food service Manager, who reports to the Director of Golf Operations. The restaurant includes a sunken lounge with a wall of windows providing a beautiful view of the golf course. The lounge adjoins an open air patio directly overlooking the Golf Course. The main dining area also has a good view of the golf course due to it's higher level floor. An overhead skylight runs the length of the building providing a bright open air atmosphere. There is also a "club room" area which can accommodate banquet seating for up to 70 persons. A movable partition wall can create a private setting for club room programs or the partition can be opened to provide additional seating as part of the main dining room for larger outing parties for up to 150 persons. The golf facilities include a Pro Shop, men and women's locker rooms, club storage and repair areas, and administrative office space. In addition to administrative offices, the Police Building includes a 5 position firing range with loading and viewing areas, conference and interview rooms, vehicle processing bay, evidence technician/lab area, dark room, property room, armory and supply storage room, report writing area, booking area, separate juvenile and male and female holding areas, separate lobby counters for the main reception and records section, locker and lunch rooms, evidence storage, roll call
room, first aid room, a dual use emergency operations center/physical training area and bulk storage area. In addition to the pre-existing administrative and engineering offices, vehicle storage and locker area, the Public Works Building now includes a new vehicle maintenance overhaul shop, welding/machine shop, oil/lubricant storage area, tool room, parts storage and service bays. The service bays utilize movable and surfact mounted lifts which will better accommodate future relocation which further phased expansion is projected to require. The building also includes shop areas for forestry, water and sewer, sign fabrication and streets, and building maintenance. A new water and sewer telemetry control room has also been provided and additional unfinished second floor space has been provided in the old vehicle maintenance bay area to be used for future administrative and engineering office space. Additional in-house remodeling will occur in the building after the building inspection and planning staffs move to their newly renovated Village Hall facilities. The Public Works Department's new salt storage facility is a unique dome design which is the first of its' kind in that a newly developed structural design was used to keep an extra low profile on the dome. A brick screening wall around the Public Works yard and dome along with landscape screening and cedar shake shingles all serve to further mitigate any potentially troublesome aesthetic aspects of the dome storage facility. The Salt Institute has recognized the Village with a 1989 Excellence in Storage Award for the Village's safe and environmentally sensitive salt storage procedures which utilize the new facility. Buffalo Grove's facility planning has proven to be highly effective in creating the planning foundation for both the current projects and projected future expansions. November 1989 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 9
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