Highland Park selects architect for $17.5 million renovation of city building, fire station

Highland Park City Council voted last week to select the architecture firm that will oversee an up to $17.5 million modernization of a city administration building and fire station. 

Williams Architects, a west-suburban company that oversaw the 2023 renovation of Highland Park’s Ravinia Fire Station 32, will now begin assessing the site of the city’s Public Services Center and Fire Station 34 located at 1100-1150 Half Day Road, just north of The Preserve.

The Public Services Center and Fire Station 34 were built next to each other in 1974 and 1978. A preliminary evaluation conducted by city staff determined the facilities are both “nearly obsolete due to their age and require upgrades to meet the long-term needs of the City.”

Highland Park’s capital budget allocated $500,000 for the site’s inspection this year, $2 million for design work next year and a “placeholder” of $17.5 million for the build as the planning process will determine the overall budget. Construction is tentatively scheduled for 2027.

The Highland Park Public Services Building, last renovated in 2000, houses both the city’s Public Works Department and Community Development Department on an approximately 8-acre site beside the fire station. 

Among other things, the city’s request for qualifications seeks a fire station that will have at least three vehicle bays, a 15-person classroom, living quarters to accommodate six firefighters, a workout facility and updated station alert system in line with the city’s other two fire stations.

The request also seeks an emergency operations center for its Public Services Building, up to four conference rooms, a fitness room with locker facilities, more surface parking, vehicle lifts, welding area and garage space for more than 154 pieces of equipment. 

A proposal from Williams Architects shows the firm anticipates identifying the needs of the city spaces by December; completing a conceptual design by May and final designs and cost estimates by December 2026; and issuing bids for construction by January 2027. 

The city issued a request for qualifications in April that drew 12 applications.

A selection committee then interviewed three firms in June before city staff recommended Williams Architects as the one “most aligned with the City’s operations and vision.”

Mayor Nancy Rotering and Councilmembers Barisa Bruckman, Andrés Tapia, Annette Lidawer and Jon Center voted on Sept. 25 in favor of hiring Williams Architects. Councilmember Yumi Ross voted “present,” and Councilmember Tony Blumberg was absent from the meeting.

Ross voted after voicing concerns about the council “routinely” being asked to vote on expensive projects with “very little heads up” from city staff. Ross suggested the council delay voting on hiring Williams Architects in order to have more time to consider the other contenders.

Highland Park City Manager Ghida Neukirch said the city is on an “aggressive timeline” but has been discussing the project for several years; the $17.5 million allocated in the budget is not based on any site planning, which she said is the responsibility of experienced architecture and engineering firms.

Neukirch also apologized if she hadn’t shared all the responses to the request for qualifications with Ross, offered to provide updates with more frequency going forward and noted Highland Park Fire Department personnel were pleased with Williams Architects’ previous remodel. 

“The integration and the ability to work with the architect on every step of the detail was very important,” Fire Chief Joe Schrage told the council on Sept. 25, echoing support for Williams Architects’ past work.

 “Our personnel are super happy with our building,” Schrage said. “They’re incredible, I mean that’s been one of the biggest moral kicks that we’ve ever received.”

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