CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A state lawmaker is pushing to have state police and other state agencies use the now-vacant Lincoln-Way North High School campus in Frankfort. State Senator Michael Hastings is lobbying the Illinois State Police to make the 11-year-old high school building bought to replace the rundown District 5 headquarters currently in Lockport. He also said there's plenty of extra property on the campus on which to build a new, state-of-the-art crime lab. "The state police forensics lab is so outdated that they need a new forensics lab. The grounds have an ample amount of property in order to build it right there. It would create thousands of jobs in the area. It would have an extreme positive economic impact and it would also make the best use of a building," he said.
The senator said other state agencies could use the building, too.
"If the Illinois State Police would purchase the property, I also wanted to have other agencies like the Department of Public Health, the Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, some CMS offices that could re-locate from the Thompson Center, if and when we do close the Thompson Center," Sen. Hastings said.Senator Hastings mentioned on Facebook that he went on a tour of the Lincoln-Way North campus at the end of June. He said State Police Director Brendan Kelly was among those on the tour. State Police Lt. Joe Hutchins said the department is looking at buildings and properties in the Joliet area for a new District 5 headquarters and forensics lab.
"You want to make sure when you have a lab that there’s access points for the interstate, it’s centrally located. I think right there, right off of Harlem and I-80, you also got I-57 access right there," he said.The Lincoln-Way North building was closed in 2016, when an expected increase in enrollment did not materialize. School District 210 has been trying to sell the property, and a couple of school districts are reportedly interested in using it. Senator Hastings said there would be an economic benefit to the community by having state police and other agencies moving onto the property. That includes easing the property tax burden for District 210 property owners who are still paying for the building's construction.
