Promises Made - Promises Kept
Vote April 1, 2025

New Municipal Center

In 2014, the City of Crest Hill upgraded its Comprehensive Plan. During this process, we included several citizens and business owners to participate in discussions, where they could express their needs and wants for the community. One of the recommendations for our updated Comprehensive Plan was for a new municipal center which would centrally locate municipal services with the city for all of our residents. The reason for this recommendation is that our current building located at 1610 Plainfield Road is 80 years old and in need of extensive rehabilitation and updating.

In 2017, the City of Crest Hill began having serious discussions in regards to the possibility of constructing a new Municipal Center. City Staff visited many other municipalities' City Halls and Police Stations, conducted a feasibility and space-needs study, and researched building location sites.

In September of 2018, the City of Crest Hill purchased 19 acres of property for $1.2 million behind the Crest Hill Library and the City Council will be discussing the possibility of building a new City Hall and a new Police Station on this property over the next several years, as recommended by our residents in our updated 2014 Comprehensive Plan. We will carefully consider all of our options, be fiscally responsible, and choose the most cost-effective option in regards to long term viability for all of our employees and residents. This site will centrally locate municipal services for all of our residents. Our long-range vision would be to sell the property that we currently own at 1610 Plainfield Road in hopes of a new economic development for a very marketable piece of property.

Over the next two years, The City Council and City Staff were diligently discussing and planning for a new City Hall and a new Police Station on this property. This site will centrally locate municipal services within the City for all of our residents as was recommended by our updated 2014 Comprehensive Plan. During this period of time, members of our Police Department and members of our Clerk’s Office visited many surrounding communities who have built new facilities in order to collect information and ideas for our future building.

The new Police Station will certainly meet all of the requirements of the State of Illinois and the Department of Corrections. This modern facility will be functional and operational with room for growth for many years to come. The City Hall building will also be functional and operational to meet the needs of our residents and improve the quality of life for all of our employees and residents. We will also transfer our current Veterans/Police Memorial Garden to this new site to show respect for all of our Veterans and Police Officers who have serve our country and our community. My hope is to also, one day, have an outdoor bandshell in order to host concerts and other activities throughout the year as a gathering place for our community.

In February of 2020, we broke ground for the building of our new Municipal Center. All construction projects, no matter how large or small, come with challenges, headaches, and changes over the course of the project. On March 16, 2020, COVID-19 arrived and by order of the Governor of Illinois all businesses, schools and municipal centers were closed to slow down the spread of the virus. We certainly did not expect the COVID-19 pandemic, the supply chain issues, and the inflationary costs for materials and labor when we first started this project. However, we had to deal with it and make the necessary adjustments as we moved forward. We made some internal changes, made some physical changes at the new building, and waited for supplies to arrive to complete this project.

We officially moved into our new City Center facility, located at 20600 City Center Boulevard, on May 4th, 2023. This new facility includes our City Hall administrative offices, along with our Police Department and our City Council Chambers. We hosted a Grand Opening/Ribbon Cutting ceremony on Saturday, October 21st from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. We provided tours of the entire facility, along with food and refreshments.

We have adjusted to our new City Hall and have enjoyed the opportunity to host several events over the past year and a half that many of our residents have enjoyed. In addition to our Open House, some of these events include our annual Memorial Day Ceremony, our Lidice Memorial Ceremony, our annual Winterfest Event, which included a Santa Parade and an evening of family fun entertainment with Santa, and on September 4, 2024, we hosted Neighbors Night Out, which was a successful and very positive event that was enjoyed by many of our residents that recognized our Police Officers and thanked them for the services that they provide.

Our goal always was to construct a City Center which is first class and professional to be able to meet the needs and provide the services for all of our residents and visitors. Our goal always was to build a City Hall and Police Station which is safe, functional, operational, and professional for all of our employees. Our goal always was to construct a new City Center that would be a building that we can all be proud of for the next 60 years as this City continues to grow and prosper. I am certainly proud of the new Municipal Center and I am forever grateful for all of the hard work by City Staff to complete this project. This facility will certainly improve the safety, health and welfare for all of our employees for years to come. I am also proud of the fact that we have improved the quality of life for all of our employees and residents. I hope that you are as proud of this City Center as I am.

I look forward to continue making improvements and investing in our city's future in order to enhance the quality of life for all our residents. Please vote April 1, 2025 to re-elect Ray Soliman.

Investing in Crest Hill's Future