$2.1M in renovations to Village Hall in Machesney Park focused on both safety and comfort

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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MACHESNEY PARK — Village officials, staff, deputies and other local dignitaries celebrated on Wednesday the reopening of Village Hall after a roughly yearlong renovation project.

The $2.1 million project made multiple improvements to Village Hall, 300 Roosevelt Road, and expanded the attached police station to provide additional surveillance and security measures.

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A ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Parks Chamber of Commerce was held Wednesday afternoon, followed by an open house to show off the renovated space.

Improvements included new public bathrooms, a new heating and air conditioning system, front office space renovation, a new police liaison office, new flooring, furniture and paint.

Also key were improvements to the space for Winnebago County sheriff’s deputies, which needed dedicated space for interviewing witnesses or suspects and separate areas for processing and evidence.

“Unfortunately, we had deputies that were processing narcotics on the same tables that they would then have to do their reports on,” Village Administrator James Richter II said.

The police station improvements included new HVAC, bathrooms, windows, changes to the roll call area, break room, sallyport, new furniture, storage room and that additional evidence storage room and processing area.

There were also exterior building improvements, including landscaping, aluminum-wrapped trim and garage floor epoxy.  A new surveillance and building security system was also installed.

Why it was needed?

The push to renovate the building started nearly two years ago after a sanitary sewer backup caused extensive damage to the police department, several conference rooms and bathrooms, Richter said.

“Several of the sewer pipes that were below the building had cracked,” he said. “We had odor issues. We had a number of things we recognized were the problem.”

The building was constructed in 1986 and had several issues to address as it neared age 40. That included HVAC issues that left some parts of the building hot and others cold.

Richter said the Village Board decided after the sanitary sewer backup that it should address all the issues at once.

The project was paid for through savings in the village’s capital fund with the help of $200,000 in state funding secured by state Sen. Steve Stadelman.

“Village Hall is really important to a community,” Stadelman said. “Obviously it’s the center of operations for the government, but I think it’s also the heart of a community.”

Stadelman said he has hosted several town hall meetings at Village Hall, and it can be a gathering place for many important meetings.

“It’s a place where people gather, and if they’re proud of their Village Hall that adds to the pride in a community,” he said. “When you have a strong Village Hall it just makes the community and the village of Machesney Park that much stronger.

The improvements were designed by McMahon Group in Machesney Park and Schmeling Construction Co. of Rockford was the general contractor.

The village had worked out of space on North Alpine Road that was provided by Greg Orput of Orput Companies at no charge during construction.

The village contracts with the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department, which dedicates about 20 patrol officers and two detectives to Machesney Park.

Aside from the deputies, the village has 12 full-time staff members that work from Village Hall.

“This was a great way to give them a refreshing place to do business and something they can be proud of to come to work,” Richter said.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas