Construction continues on the new police station on Lincoln Highway.

The new station, to be located at 700 W. Lincoln Highway, will be funded by adjustments in the city budget. The City Council conducted a needs study and a sites study which took place over many years. The 700 W. Lincoln Highway site came to the top of the list after much debate, said 5th Ward Alderman Ron Naylor. The City Council also debated on budget options and finally decided on $12 million loan.

“We refinanced some bonds we were already paying to a lower interest rate,” said 2nd Ward Alderman Tom Teresinski. “We’re using the money we saved, plus some of the general fund, to pay for the station.”

City Manager Mark Biernacki said payment will be made over the course of 19 years. He said the city’s general fund, surplus money, police fees and a portion of hotel/motel money will be used to help make payments.

The debate over whether the new police station is necessary has been going for over ten years.

Teresinski said the project has been in development for such a long time partially because the source of funding was under debate.

“Discussion for this started in 2001,” said DeKalb Mayor Kris Povlsen. “This project has seen four mayors, two police chiefs and five or six city councils.”

Naylor said the needs of the currently used police department, such as the issue of space, have been noted for 20 years. He said the new police department will have three times the amount of space the current one has.

The location for the station was chosen several years ago.

“Four or five years ago, we did studies to determine where a station would be most useful,” Povlsen said. “We studied where most police calls came from. They mostly came from the northwest side of town, from around the Greek Row area.”

The city also preferred a location on the north side of the railroad tracks for a faster response, Teresinski said.

Povlsen said the site was purchased a few years ago.

“Last year we came to a final decision, chose a designer, finalized funding and began construction in spring,” Povlsen said.

Povlsen said he expects the station to be operational by next year.