In January, DeKalb purchased 2.99 acres of land for $1.57 million for the future DeKalb Police Station. The property’s location at the corner of Lincoln Highway and Carrol Avenue would put the police much closer to NIU.

The property consists of five separate lots and is mostly zoned commercial, with the farthest east lot zoned single-family residential, said Community Development Director Russ Farnum.

DeKalb Police do not have enough space and need room for future growth beyond the current location in the municipal building on Fourth Street, said Chief Bill Feithen.

The police station will not be built for seven to 10 years because it will take time to raise the necessary $12 to 15 million in funds. Meanwhile, the land will remain vacant.

“We have no plans for use — it will stay as trees and grass,” said DeKalb City Manager Mark Biernacki. “Any kind of user would want a longer term of use than 10 years.”

A committee consisting of Assistant City Manager Linda Wiggins, Public Works Director Rick Monas, architects from Williams Associates and Feithen determined the best site for the new police station. They considered other sites near Walgreens, 100 W. Lincoln Highway, and MicroSolutions, 132 W. Lincoln Highway, and southwest of the Elks Lodge, 209 S. Annie Glidden Road.

We have to go where our service area is and more of our serious crime is in Zone One, north of Lincoln Highway and west of First Street, Feithen said.

Railroad gates are down six hours a day, so being able to navigate around them is important because most of the crime occurs north of the tracks, Feithen said.

“A police station is placed on the best judgment related to response time and service area,” said Roger Dahlstrom of NIU Governmental Studies. “Public safety is paramount and takes precedence over placing a business to stabilize an area.”

Consultants estimated the police would need more space than the new site contains.

“The architects estimate we need 3.5 to 4 acres of land,” Feithen said. DeKalb is not looking to expand its ownership at the future police site.

“We are satisfied right now, but we will look at opportunities if they arise,” Biernacki said.

City officials are relieved that an appropriate site was available and residents did not have to be disturbed.

“When we started this process we thought we would have had to displace someone with eminent domain,” Feithen said.

Eminent domain gives local government the right to annex property the community determines could be more appropriately used, even if it is already owned.

One active DeKalb resident believes the city could have used another site for the police station.

There is no perfect site, but it was not wise for the city to purchase the property when there were other sites that are more viable, less visible and with the same access, said resident Mike Embrey.

Commercial businesses have had mixed success at the site due to many variables, but the property has value because of its proximity to the massive amount of NIU consumers.

Ax in Hand, 817 West Lincoln Highway, had past success at that site. The park district land south of the Elks Lodge would be a less visible or commercially valuable site, Embrey added.

The police chief refuted the perceived value of the site for commercial use.

“There is plenty of land available on West Lincoln Highway or Annie Glidden for commercial development,” Feithen responded. “That property has sat for sale for years.”

Crime Rates By Zone