City of Belleville Public Building Improvements

Summary

The City of Belleville contracted The Lawrence Group and Kaskaskia Engineering Group, LLC (KEG) to complete a feasibility study for improvements and remodeling of current facilities to accommodate future needs of multiple public buildings, specifically the Belleville Police Department and City Hall. The Belleville Police Department currently shares a building with City Hall at 101 South Illinois Street. The Belleville Police Department has 82 sworn officers and command staff, as well as 25 civilian and dispatch staff within the current facilities. The City has approximately 35 employees located at City Hall.

Project

The study was a productive year-long collaboration among the Mayor, Police Chief, city employees, citizens of Belleville, and the consulting team to provide an assessment of the feasibility of separating City Hall and the Police Station.  Alternatives discussed were renovating the existing facility, purchasing an additional building for renovation, and/or building a new facility. The study included an analysis of the current and future operational needs of the Police Department and City Hall, as well as an analysis of the existing building and several other nearby buildings, which could be renovated.  Building systems, cost estimates, value engineering, parking accommodations, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), facility use planning, and the Illinois Jail and Department of Correction Standards were also included in the analysis.

The study concluded that the Police Department should be moved to a substantially vacant building at 720 West Main Street and the existing City Hall should be renovated to meet current codes and accommodate additional staff.

Phase II of the project will include working with Police Department Command Staff and City Hall officials to provide conceptual design services for the renovation of 720 West Main Street to include a police telecommunication center, holding cells, evidence vaults, training rooms, and sallyport. Conceptual design renovations to the existing City Hall building include remodeling to restore architectural features of the building and upgrades to comply with ADA standards. Phase II will also include a traffic study of the proposed new location, field investigations to determine site constraints, boundary and topographic surveys, site and grading plan design, utility coordination, and project specifications.