Schakowsky, Skokie Mayor Commemorate New State-of-the-Art Police Headquarters

Chicago, IL (October 6, 2010) — Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) celebrated the grand opening of a new, cutting edge police headquarters in Skokie on Sunday, which was possible, in part, thanks to a $465,000 grant secured by the Congresswoman in the FY 2010 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriation Bill. The Skokie Police Department will move into its new headquarters at 7300 Niles Center Road in late October.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen commemorated the highly-anticipated Skokie police headquarters opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony and station tour. The 80,000 square foot building houses an Emergency Operations Center and training facility including a firearms simulator and an updated communications center, which will be the nucleus of Skokie Fire and Police Department operations. The headquarters will be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program at the Silver–and possibly the Gold–designation.

"The new Skokie Police headquarters is a spectacular state-of-the-art facility that will serve as the model for future police command centers in the Chicagoland area and beyond,... said Schakowsky. "With the help of my friend, Mayor Van Dusen and countless others who advocated for the development of this incredible police headquarters, I was able to secure a $465,000 federal grant to support the project. This type of federal support — in conjunction with money from state and local public and private sources — is exactly the right kind of investment spending right now. The Village of Skokie is made safer, the construction project created jobs, and it is a LEED certified energy-efficient, green building–Skokie's first such municipal building....

"The grand opening of the new police station in the Village of Skokie was a great success with nearly 1,600 residents in attendance,... said Mayor Van Dusen. "The Village is especially grateful to Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky for her attendance at the ceremony and for all of her hard work in securing $465,000 in funding for the new facility from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Administration.  The new police station will serve the residents of Skokie for many decades to come....

The building replaces the police headquarters at 8558 Laramie Ave., which was built in 1957 and had become technologically outdated and far too small for Skokie's police operations.