WEST CITY, IL (WSIL) -- A new police department is coming to the village of West City, Illinois.
The project was approved prior to COVID - but during the pandemic - other priorities took precedence for the village of West City.
Now, leaders have reconvened with architects and others on the project - and are back on track to get their new police department.
West City Police Department Chief Jon Graskewicz tells us this 75-year-old building (current police station) is sinking and sliding and has outlived its usefulness.
"The walls are cracking," Graskewicz said. "We see new cracks daily. *see how big that crack is down there* The floors are cracking. We find floor cracks daily. The building is on an angle. We can set a ball or a soda can on one end of the building and it will roll to the other because the building is uneven."
Both Chief Graskewicz and Mayor Ron House say the 17-inch difference from one end of the building to the other can be blamed on mine subsidence. Once a school - repurposed into a PD, the patched and piece-milled building is costly, isn't energy efficient or ergonomic, and has become a safety hazard.
"This building has served its purpose," West City Mayor Ron House said. "This building has gradually sinking into the ground, shifting and everything... We've gotta get out of here before someone gets hurt."
And, that's the plan. Graskewicz says they're currently meeting with architects to wrap up the blueprints, get the bid out and start construction. The new building will be 3200-square feet - with hardwired security, a dispatch in the center and individual workspace for the officers. And with the new building - a new location - at the corner of Webster and South Central Streets; at a total cost of just under 900-thousand dollars - Grakewicz says - it's money well spent - not only for the police department - but for the community.
"It's something they can look at with pride," Graskewicz said. "For a village our size, to be able to have a police department that's brand new, I think it's just a great thing for the village of West City."
Chief Graskewicz tells us he hopes they'll be breaking ground by late May - and settling into their new digs by the first quarter of '24.
