Visitors didn’t need a hard hat to stop by Fire Station 11 and administration (740 Dundee Road) in Northbrook on April 29.
But plastic fire hats were free for children like Elliott Schwefel-Peterson, 3, of Northbrook, who toured the fire station on Saturday with his parents Aaron Peterson and Brittany Schwefel.
Of thanking first responders in person, “It’s essential and it’s wonderful that we can do this,” Elliott’s mother said.
While the Facilities Open House on Saturday did provide memory makers for Northbrook residents like Elliott’s family, for others, the tours were meant to show the public what needs to be done and funded for upgrades.
The,”village invites the public to take part in facility planning progress,” according to an April 13 village news release.
Fire Station 11, the Fleet Maintenance Garage behind Village Hall and the Police Station (1401 Landwehr Road) may need renovations and razing of buildings or portions of structures.
At the April 25 Northbrook Village Board of Trustees meeting, a resolution easily passed via consent agenda to adopt a Facility Space Program as reviewed by the Public Works and Facilities Committee of the village board.
According to a village release, “The village has started a process to create a facility renovation and/or replacement plan that prioritizes the three village department(s) which deliver critical public safety 24/7/365 and which currently fail to meet the village’s operational needs, do not support modern practices, and face significant maintenance challenges.”
Working with architectural and construction firms, the village hopes to get residents and business owners to understand building issues at the three facilities, “because they have been determined to have the greatest needs,” the release said.
“The village is excited about this process because we have done and continue to do our due diligence in assessing these important facilities,” Village President Kathryn L. Ciesla said in a statement to Pioneer Press. “Now that we understand more about their conditions, we can begin working on solutions.
“There are no predetermined outcomes or solutions at this time,” Ciesla said, adding the, “tours were meant to be the start of a community dialogue to help determine the best course of action.”
The public tours were offered on a registration basis. The estimated 40 registrants (combined) at all three facilities, with most accompanied by guests, were then notified by the village they were not allowed to take photos at the three facilities.
Pioneer Press was allowed to take photos of the Fire Station 11 lobby and of the immediate apparatus bay area where emergency vehicles are kept in a garage bay setting.
“The police department, the fire department, fleet garage, they’re beloved by the community,” said Nicholas Glenn, the village’s communications manager, to Pioneer Press.
“Everyone wants to bring their kids, they want to come see for themselves, we wanted to make clear … that kids are welcome but this was really about seeing the conditions of the building and some of the areas of the building were not suitable … for kids,” Glenn said.
“The photography part is that these are active work spaces, these are public safety institutions that deal with things like security and protection and sensitive private information, so for those reasons, we were not able to allow people to take photographs,” Glenn said.
Photographs on the village website under http://northbrookil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1891&Inline=True document situations needing repair, new technology or remodeling.
Urinals in a locker room toilet area at Fire Station 11 and at the fleet garage, for example, can be seen via the link, including crumbling and cracked sections in other areas.
The police station, built in 1974 as a joint fire and police facility, needs nearly double its current size to operate, according to the village. The police department’s on-site radio tower location is identified in bold as problematic, along with security and holding facility (doorway with bars photographed) concerns.
“I think having community buy-in is hugely important to the village and to the department,” Northbrook Police Chief Christopher Kennedy said. “Someone had said to me that the officers very much deserve a new police station but I would argue that the case is that the village and the people that live here deserve the very best, so having a new police station, having a new fire station, allows for the very best level of service.”
The fleet garage was constructed in 1956 with an addition added in 1966 and, “The building is extremely undersized and inefficient,” according to the village report. Ice falling from the close-in-proximity water tower is problematic.
Fire Station 11, built in 1971 with an administration addition in 1988, “is unwelcoming for employees and visitors,” and, “Very little work has been done to the building since,” according the report.
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“Our public safety officials and support staff spend countless hours in these facilities and we maximize the space and resources we have,” Northbrook Fire Chief Andy Carlson said. “However, we know that the current state of the three buildings present major operational issues and potential safety concerns,” Carlson said.
It is possible that a new fire station could be built on former Green Acres Country Club land which would impact the financial investment regarding the current site, although not confirmed by the village.
Erickson Senior Living, Green Acres redeveloper, has proposed to donate 73.62 acres for Northbrook public open space with about 53 acres accommodating nine multi-story interconnected senior living structures.
A dedicated parcel could cause Fire Station 11 to move its operations west from its current Dundee Road address.
Next steps for the three facilities report include a May 23 village board presentation. On June 27, approval of the facilities plan is being sought.
For those touring facilities on April 29, while they could not take and take away photos, for Elliott’s family, the fire station tour was, “very nice,” Elliott’s father said.
“I hope his (Elliott’s) takeaway is that he can see the important things that go on behind the scenes,” said Aaron Peterson, adding, “…the crucial stuff that he hopefully doesn’t have to interact with every day.”
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.