Cook County breaks ground on LEC expansion
With a symbolic groundbreaking on Oct. 28, a project years in the making is officially underway. County leaders held a ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on an expansion to the Law Enforcement Center.
In attendance at the event were the Cook County Commissioners, County Administrator Kristen Trebil-Halbersma, County Attorney Jeanne Peterson, Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen, and Facilities Director Brook Lessard. They were joined by Mayor of Grand Marais, Tracy Benson, and representatives from Johnson Wilson constructors, which is the construction manager at risk for the project, and BKV group, the architects behind the design, and representatives from Architecture Advantage.
The project is one part of the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), first approved by the Cook County Board of Commissioners in August of 2023. At that time, the plan, which aimed to improve several county buildings to address space needs, security upgrades, and a backlog of deferred maintenance, also included a Justice Center project. The Justice Center would both expand the existing LEC, and move the county’s judicial offices to the same site with the construction of a new wing.
By April of 2024, the board opted to pause the Justice Center project, in order to reevaluate the county’s needs and what other options could meet them. In September of that year the board saw masterplans for an adjusted LEC addition project, as well as potential projects for the courthouse and community center.
Site work began in September, and Lessard said the exterior work on the addition should be complete by Christmas. He added that because the county is bringing trades people to the area for this project, they have also been able to accelerate the plan to address deferred maintenance projects. “We’re just accelerating it to take care of it during this this project to help minimize cost and make everybody more efficient,” he said.
The LEC expansion aims to address serious safety and space concerns for the sheriff’s department, including improving evidence storage and a new sallyport that can fit an ambulance for instances when transport from the jail to the hospital is required.
Eliasen told WTIP, “This renovation and addition is very important for the working environment of the staff and the safety of our inmates. The Emergency Operations Center is a much needed improvement for public safety staff when managing large-scale events such as fire and other natural disasters. I cannot thank the Cook County Board of Commissioners enough for their forward thinking and their commitment to public safety.”
An audio version of this story is available below.
Kirsten Wisniewski October 28, 2025
