S. M. Wilson & Co. has completed the new $6.8 million Highland Public Safety Building in Highland, Illinois.
The 31,000-square-foot facility houses the city’s police, fire and emergency medical services departments under one roof, including a communications, reception and data center. The new facility will allow the city’s emergency services to double their capacity to meet increased demand in the future. The fire department moved into the facility last month. Police and EMS moved in earlier this year. S. M. Wilson was the general contractor and Loyet Architects was the architect.
S. M. Wilson collaborated with the City of Highland as well as the design team on value engineering solutions to ensure that the project was delivered on time and within budget. The new facility features a training/community room, bunk rooms, locker rooms and showers for first responders as well as a holding area and sally port for secure prisoner dropoff. An eight-car garage for police vehicles as well as a three-bay apparatus for ambulance and fire vehicle storage and maintenance was constructed.
The facility’s International Code Council (ICC) 500 storm shelter houses a dispatch room with bulletproof glass and a data room. It was constructed to withstand high winds associated with tornadoes and hurricanes.
Since the new facility is located adjacent to Highland High School, S. M. Wilson used the opportunity to create hands-on learning activities for students related to construction through its SKILLED program.
