Cook County board reviews community center, courthouse, and LEC masterplans

Kirsten Wisniewski | September 27, 2024

Five months after opting to change course from a proposed Judicial Center, the Cook County Board of Commissioners accepted a master plan that aims to address the needs identified in the Capital Improvement Plan.

The projects being considered

Since deciding not to pursue the plan as presented in April, the board has discussed other options for meeting the county’s space and security needs. At the Sept. 24 board meeting, the commissioners saw a presentation from BKV Group, the architectural firm the county has contracted with to draft a master plan. Part of the presentation focused on an expansion of the community center, and interior remodeling of both the community center and courthouse. The board voted unanimously to accept the master plan. This does not obligate the county to pursue any part of the construction project. The estimated cost for the community center project is $19 – 23 million. The changes to the courthouse will cost an estimated $9-11 million.

The second part of the presentation included amendments to the original Judicial Center plan. The board decided that, though they did not want to use the entirety of the plan presented earlier this year, they were open to using the parts related to making improvements to the Law Enforcement Center. At the Sept. 24 meeting, BKV group presented the pared down version of the plan, now focussing only on addressing the space and security issues with the current LEC. The board voted unanimously to accept this plan, as well. Again, accepting the plan does not obligate the county to pursue the project further. The estimated cost for the project is $6.4 – 7.6 million.

Considering costs

Cook County Administrator James Joerke spoke with WTIP about the proposed plans. When asked about the estimated costs, he said, “The numbers are big. There’s no question about that, and you heard some concern expressed about that by board members.”

Cost was a major factor in the board’s decision not to pursue the Judicial Center plan. That plan came with an estimated cost of $27-33 million. The estimated cost of the three projects currently being considered, when added together, is $34-41 million. When asked about whether the current set of plans would save the county money, Joerke said, “That wasn’t really the intention of this exercise.”

He added, “I think there’s a lot of planning that we’re going to have to do, a lot to have discussions about. You know, is the scope of the project appropriate? Are there opportunities for reducing cost? There’s, there’s just a lot to sort through at this point. And so I hope listeners will understand that, you know, we’re at the very beginning of this process.”

Joerke also said, both in the meeting and in speaking with WTIP, that because of how heavily used the Community Center is, he anticipates that the county will be asking for a lot of community feedback. He said that there will likely be open houses across the county and that county leadership wants to know whether the plan aligns with community priorities.

Budget implications

As the board is considering the plans, they are also in the midst of working on setting a 2025 budget and levy. While the expense for these potential projects would not be part of the 2025 budget, Joerke said that they are part of the longer term budgeting outlook. He said, “There’s no question that that’s going to affect the the board discussions around budgeting in future years, but we’ve been really responsible in the way that we’ve managed levy dollars historically, you can you can see that, and that’s not going to change.”

Joerke said that the exact sources of funding projects aren’t known at this time, but did say that the board hopes to minimize the impact that they may have on the county levy. He said that the county has a good bond rating, which opens up options for low-interest financing. He also mentioned the potential for using Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds. That money comes from the federal government to replace the taxes the county is unable to collect on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Regardless of where the funding ultimately comes from, Joerke assured listeners that, if the projects move forward, there will be time for community feedback.

WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with County Administrator James Joerke about the Sept. 24 Board of Commissioners meeting. Audio is below.