Lowell to update maintenance, first responder training facilities

With both the current and projected growth in town, it’s safe to say the Town of Lowell has outgrown their current street department facility on S. Union Street.

Councilman John Yelkich said the facility is muddy and the salt barn has seen better days, and subsequently the salt gets wet. The current facility is also located in a flood plain, according to town manager Craig Hendrix.

“It was decided to move it out adjacent to where the wastewater treatment plant is,” Yelkich said. “We’re going to build a maintenance facility.”

The wastewater treatment plant is located at 7500 Belshaw Road, and also on the property is the shooting range for the Lowell Police Department. Yelkich noted the shooting range is occasionally used by the Cedar Lake Police Department also.

“There’s been some concerns in the past about that range,” Yelkich said, “and it really probably at this point needs to have some attention paid to it.”

Yelkich said the town’s current plan is to move the shooting range to a location adjacent to where the new maintenance facility will be built on the property. The town bought 14 acres, which could provide ample space to expand over time if needed.

At one point, the town was considering a partnership with the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, but that idea didn’t gain much traction. Yelkich said the town was hesitant to enter into another interlocal agreement similar to what it has with Cedar Lake for the wastewater treatment plant.

Yelkich said councilman Mike Gruszka came up with the idea of building a learning center adjacent to the range for the town’s first responders. He said both the town’s police and fire departments have shown interest in the plan.

“That’s what’s taking shape now,” Yelkich said. “Essentially what it’s going to be is an opportunity for area law enforcement and area fire departments, EMS, first responders to have a place in this part of the state to train at.”

Yelkich said the town would charge other departments for the use of the new training facility. He explained the town would also handle the scheduling and maintenance for the facility.

Yelkich acknowledged there wouldn’t be much of a difference between the MAAC Foundation in Valparaiso, “but it would be another outlet.”

“I think it’s just another opportunity for having a place for our guys,” Yelkich said, “so we don’t have to send our guys out and pay the price, but it also gives us the opportunity to provide another location for training and an opportunity for income for the Town of Lowell.”

Unlike the MAAC and the training facility recently built by the Beecher Fire Department in Illinois, Lowell’s training facility would be more of a classroom setting, Yelkich explained.

Hendrix added there would be a room outfitted with mats for use by the police department for self defense training. There would also be a small locker room, a classroom and a room specifically for storing firearms and ammunition, he said. Hendrix suggested the fire department could put a burn building on the property for training as well.

“Outside, the fire department could have different set ups,” Hendrix said. “There’s plenty of room there.”

Hendrix said one perk for the new building will have a maintenance area with heated floors in the vehicle bays, which makes working on the vehicles more tolerable when the area sees frigid temperatures. There will also be a salt barn that will hold up to 2,400 tons of salt – more than a year’s worth of material.

“It’s tall enough that a truck can back in and dump inside the building,” Hendrix said. “Right now, we have to dump outside then move it inside the building. It’s twice the work.”

But not only that. If the town’s street department workforce needed to stay overnight, such as in the case of a weather event, they would have a place to cook and take a shower if needed, Hendrix said. He added it would be a definite improvement over the S. Union Street facility.

“The facility we’ve got is kind of a makeshift over time, add this, add that, another lean-to here, another thing there,” Hendrix said. “The wastewater plant used to be there, so it’s an old clarifier.

Hendrix said the initial estimates to build the facility came in around $7 million. However, Hasse Construction of Calumet City, Illinois was awarded the contract for the project with a low bid of approximately $5.6 million.

Hendrix is projecting the contracts could be signed and the financing finalized in March. He is hopeful the new salt barn will be finished by the end of 2025.