The public is invited to celebrate the opening of the new headquarters of the Oswego (Ill.) Police Department. The new headquarters, 3355 Woolley Road, will be unveiled to the public during a dedication ceremony at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26.
The public can take a glimpse of the inside of the building during an open house and take tours, which will be held once the ceremony concludes.
“The design and development of this cutting-edge law enforcement facility was inspired by a desire to provide an inviting and transparent building for our community to use, while enhancing safety and operational efficiency for the department members serving our public,” Oswego Police Chief Jeff Burgner said. “We’re proud to be able to invite the public in and showcase how the new facility will benefit our community.”
The dedication ceremony will include music from the Oswego Fire Department Pipes and Drums, a flag-raising by the Oswego Police Department Honor Guard, the national anthem sung by Oswego East student McKenna Kreiling, and comments from congressman Bill Foster, Gail Johnson, Village president, and other representatives from the Village staff, architect, builder, and other teams that collaborated to make the project a reality.
Designed by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Inc., along with the consulting firm McClaren, Wilson & Lawrie,and built by construction management company Gilbane Building Company, the new headquarters features open floor plans, floor-to-ceiling windows and other elements developed to create a sense of openness and collaboration with the public and other community agencies.
“Great architecture is often the result of great collaborations between a client and an architect,” said Peter Ruggiero, design principal at HOK. “We are very proud of our collaboration with the Village of Oswego, the Oswego Police Department, their leadership, and the new headquarters building that is the result of this collaboration. The contemporary design of the new headquarters reflects the forward-thinking vision of Oswego, its police department, and their commitment to excellence.”
A new community room offers additional space for educational programs and community groups to meet alongside officers to help promote safe neighborhoods and prevent crime before it happens. Other spaces are dedicated to partner organizations, including Mutual Ground domestic violence shelter and the Kendall County Health Department, to provide connections to counseling and other resources for victims.
“Partnering with and connecting to the community are central to this facility and to our policing,” Village President Gail Johnson said. “In conceptualizing the new headquarters, we fought the idea of a building visited only by those accused of crime. Instead, we chose to design a state-of-the-art police facility, a beacon that will attract, welcome, and inspire our residents to participate collaboratively in the safety of our community, a place to gather, celebrate, and get help when needed. I believe we have done that.”
The building was designed for efficiency, both in manpower and for the environment. The previous headquarters on U.S. Route 34 was built in 1991 for a staff of just 50 personnel. Today, following the explosive population growth in Oswego over the past two decades, the Oswego Police Department has a force of more than 70 uniformed and support staff personnel, plus a large network of volunteers.
At 68,200 square feet, the new building has triple the space of the former facility and can more adequately accommodate both the department’s growing staff and the needs of residents.In addition to the extra elbow room, the new station includes modern features such as dedicated spaces for evidence-processing, records-storage and training. The additional space includes amenities that will better serve the public, such as an on-site lab to speed investigations.
A training wing includes the Village’s Emergency Operations Center that will be used during natural disasters and other emergencies, as well as a padded tactical training room and a shooting range. In addition to allowing Oswego officers to train on-site, the Department is working on agreements with other local agencies to use the facility. The new facility is intended to be a public safety campus as well as have areas that will be available for public use, including a lobby and parking lot that can be used by the public for safer online sales transactions.
The new headquarters will be LEED Silver Certified, a recognition of its environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient design. The building’s hallmark central tower contains solar tubing that heats the building through radiant heat flooring. Other environmentally-friendly considerations include large amounts of natural lighting for work spaces, plus automated lighting, modern HVAC systems, and plumbing designed to conserve water use.
“The new Oswego police headquarters is the product of a total team collaboration by the Village of Oswego, the Oswego Police Department, HOK architects, and Gilbane BuildingCompany,” said Tom Leonard senior project executive at Gilbane. “Careful planning and dedication to the design and construction process, as well as invaluable input from the Police Department ensured the success of this critical project. Gilbane is proud to have been a part of the construction of the new headquarters of the Oswego Police Department.”
The $30 million facility, the largest public infrastructure project completed to date in Oswego, was completed on time and within budget. The bonds for the project will not be repaid through property taxes, but rather through sales tax revenue, approximately 60% of which is generated by non-residents. In addition, generous grants from the ComEd Energy Efficiency program and Illinois Clean Energy have helped fund environmentally-friendly amenities in the building.
Staff members are expected to begin operations at the new headquarters October 30.
The public is invited to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility before it opens and learn more about how this new facility will support public safety in the Oswego community. The ribbon-cutting program will begin at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, at the new Oswego Police Headquarters, 3355 Woolley Road, with tours immediately following. Tours will run until 7 p.m.
Please note that Oswego Village Hall will close at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, to allow staff members to participate in the ceremony.
— Village of Oswego government
Village of Oswego photo