Plans have advanced in Orland Park for an indoor Police Department firing range and training center.
The 15,400-square-foot building would replace an outdoor range now at the village’s public works site at 156th Street and Ravinia Avenue.
The new building would also house an emergency operations center, where multiple departments would operate in the event of a disaster such as a tornado.
It would be on 2 acres of village owned land, just east of the Orland Fire Protection District’s training facility. The Village Board approved a site plan this week for the project, in the 10600 block of 163rd Place.
A 2020 assessment of village facilities determined the existing gun range location is not ideal, Public Works Director Joel Van Essen said at a December meeting.
The existing range is outdoors and under a roof, but more space in needed for safety reasons, which the public works site cannot accommodate, Van Essen said.
Orland Park’s budget allocates more than $10 million for the project.
“We thought this was an ideal site for this,” Van Essen said.
The village expects to seek bids next month, and award contracts at the first Village Board meeting in April.
Construction would begin this spring, and the building would be largely completed in late December, according to Van Essen.
“We will have a top quality range and training facility for our police,” Mayor Keith Pekau said.
The Police Department’s vehicle impound lot, now at public works, would also move to the new firing range location, Van Essen said.
The new facility would include a firearms training site and a simulator room for live-fire training, he said.
There would also be a garage door to allow vehicles to enter the building, and Van Essen said that some training involves having police officers exit their vehicle and shoot.
