The Journal
UIS Police Chief Don Mitchell wishes the new Public Safety Building was already done and ready for use.
Unfortunately, he will have to wait at least 18 months before ground can even be broken on the new police station.
That is because the state still has to raise the money for the project. The legislature approved the budget in the Capital Bill this spring, that is only step one according to Associate Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs, Dave Barrows said.
“Unfortunately the state process is very slow,” he said. “Even though they approved it, [the state] has to sell bonds to pay for it.”
After that, the project will go before the Capital Development Board, the construction management agency that oversees the construction and renovations of state government buildings. “Only after then can we hire an architect and break ground,” Barrows said.
Barrows added the Public Safety Building marks the first capital funding project for UIS in six years. Student fees go toward the University's maintenance and other projects like the recent Founders Hall dormitory.
Barrows says a new police station was the kind of project for which UIS could get state money. But the trade-off seems to be the lengthy process this entails.
Which is why he and Mitchell say the hardest part of the process is the waiting game.
“We've been requesting a new building for many years,” Mitchell said. “It's outdated and in dire need of replacement. We don't meet a lot of regulations.”
One such hardship of the current facility is its lack of holding cells. Mitchell said that if someone were to be arrested on campus, they would have to wait until the Springfield Police Department came and picked them up or a UIS officer transported him or her.
Still, Mitchell is glad that at least there is the prospect of a new facility on the horizon.
“The university [has] built a lot of buildings and spent millions of dollars,” he said. “I think they saw this a project they could get through easier.”
