Following a public hearing on November 7, the Pleasant Prairie Plan Commission approved a Conceptual Plan for the proposed construction of a new Pleasant Prairie police station and sent a favorable recommendation to the Village Board for final Conceptual Plan approval. The Conceptual Plan intends to construct a new station on approximately 4.5-acres of property owned by the Village in an area south of 100th Street and north of 104th Street on the east side of 39th Avenue.
“Consideration for a new police station began in 2016 to address several deficits in the space at our current station,” stated Pleasant Prairie Chief of Police David Smetana. "We need physical skills training space; a classroom training facility will allow us to host police training which would benefit us in providing high-quality training and help us financially by lowering the cost of the training we host."
Designs for the new police station propose a total building size of approximately 58,000 square feet. The main level would consist of roughly 28,000 square feet for offices and conference rooms, with space for dispatch, roll call, booking and holding, evidence intake, storage, locker rooms, and mechanical rooms. In addition, the Police Department will use the station's lower level for underground parking, a fitness room, additional storage space, and a vehicle impound area.
Chief Smetana added, "We need more office space, and our current evidence processing area is small and antiquated, restricting the equipment used to process evidence. We are approaching a limit on women's locker space and meeting areas. The new facility will allow for indoor parking for all of our equipment; currently, we only have six indoor parking spots. The new facility will answer all of these concerns and allow for growth and our continued service to the community in the coming decades."
In conjunction with the police station development, the Village plans to construct 101st Street and 38th Avenue to the north and east of the facility. The development design provides a primary public entrance on the south side of the building, with public parking lot access available from both 38th and 39th Avenues. Police personnel will enter from 101st Street on the north side of the building. The site will provide 39 public parking spaces on the south side of the building and 19 staff spaces on the east side of the building. The proposed underground parking on the lower level of the building will accommodate squad cars and other police vehicles.