06/30/2023
Ground officially broken on new police station
Larson-Danielson Construction has officially broken ground on the new Chesterton Police station house.
This morning, Friday, June 30, an excavator was demolishing the public parking lot across from the town hall, at the southeast corner of Broadway and South Eighth Street.
A ceremonial groundbreaking will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 6, at 791 Broadway: the new station’s official street address.
Larson-Danielson’s contract price for the job is $5,594,000, well short of the $5 million in ARPA moneys and general obligation bond proceeds which the Town of Chesterton is using to fund the project. That contract price, however, does not include any number of other expenses associated with the new station:
*Calving off the current police station’s footprint from the town hall and demolishing it, then constructing a public parking lot on the site.
*Furnishing and equipping the new station.
*Installing the building’s IT infrastructure and the interview room’s recording apparatus.
*Paying for a number of special inspections during construction of the new station.
It’s unknown at this point how much the shortfall will be, when all is said and done. Whatever the amount of the shortfall, though, Urschel Laboratories Inc. has pledged to make good on it.
As Member Sharon Darnell, D-4th, said at the Town Council’s June 12 meeting—where Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann announced Urschel’s pledge—“None of us on the Town Council is surprised by the Urschel Family’s deep commitment to our town, nor by their philanthropy, civic-mindedness, and plain decency, but we are overwhelmed by their extraordinary generosity. I want to thank the Urschel’s personally, from the bottom of my heart, for their belief in our community, their dedication to its citizens, and their interest in the men and women of the Chesterton Police Department who protect and serve us.”
*By Kevin Nevers
