A new consolidated 911 center, managed by a new intergovernmental cooperative serving Antioch, Fox Lake, Gurnee, Hainesville, Lake Zurich, Mundelein, Round Lake, Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights, Round Lake Park, Vernon Hills and Waukegan, is progressing in the planning stages for Lake County’s government campus in Libertyville.
The Libertyville village board approved the final development plan for the $35 million Regional Operations and Communications facility on the 172-acre county campus that extends north and west from Milwaukee Avenue and Winchester Road. The total cost including construction of the facility and development of the campus is about $46 million. Cotter Consulting of Chicago will manage construction under a $580,000 agreement confirmed January 2023. A single-story, 37,426-square-foot building is planned for the northwest area of the campus. The building and parking lot will cover about 6 acres.
Lake County operations already located in Libertyville are the division of transportation, the public works department, the central permit facility and a sheriff’s patrol substation; however, the new 911 operation is intergovernmental cooperative not a Lake County operation.
Village of Libertyville approval was needed to ensure the facility conformed to a 20-year master plan for the property as the project transitions from the design to construction stage. Groundbreaking could begin summer 2023, and the duration of construction and development, including equipment installation, is expected to be two years. The Libertyville campus master plan was enacted in 2012. The Lake County-managed Winchester House nursing home on the campus was razed in 2021.
The new building will provide improved service, reduce emergency call transferring, and improved emergency mutual aid response when many agencies and services are needed. Also, the building will meet LEED Gold certification and International Living Futures Institute standards for achieving net-zero energy. The facility is expected to generate as much or more renewable power than it needs to operate. A geothermal energy system to be installed with a 3.9-acre solar array will supply energy for the all-electric building. The buildings interior and furnishing will also be designed with human factors design considerations and ergonomic considerations to enhance wellness of staff.
Fire agencies, law agencies and respective dispatch centers that have committed to the facility include Lake County, the Lake County sheriff’s office and CenCom E911, which provides emergency dispatch services for Antioch, Hainesville, Round Lake, Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights and Round Lake Park. Other interested communities outside of CenCom E911 include Fox Lake, Gurnee, Lake Zurich, Mundelein, Vernon Hills and Waukegan.
A portion of the 37,426-square-foot building will be built to withstand an F4 tornado, and will be built to withstand blizzards and floods. However, the Canadian National-owned railroad tracks run just southwest of the campus. The CN railroad freight train tracks, like any freight train tracks, are associated with risk of hazardous materials incidents and evacuations, and would be located within one-half mile of the planned facility. The one-half mile distance (and possibly greater) is a common evacuation distance for certain flammable and explosive hazards and human health hazards in incidents involving train derailments, fires, or hazardous material leaks. The CN-owned railroad tracks are shared with the Metra Milwaukee District-North line. Residents in the area say that freight train traffic in the area through Libertyville between Rondout and Fox Lake is light.
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