It must’ve seemed to the officers of the Chesterton Police Department like moving from a dilapidated shack at the edge of town into a cozy bungalow in the suburbs.
The old CPD station house was—and had been for many years—cramped, dingy, drab, and dark. It had no separate facilities for female officers, not enough workspaces to go around and no place to put more, and an air of abandonment so thick it was undoubtedly unhauntable. If you’ve read your Mick Herron, think of it as Slough House, only danker, a place where two generations of officers spent their whole careers bumping elbows and probably feeling forgotten.
The new CPD station house almost glows inside with vitality. It’s brightly and naturally lit, with plenty of picture windows to let in the sunlight. It’s spacious, comfortable, breathable. The lobby of the old station looked and felt like the backroom of a derelict Sunoco in the Mojave; the lobby of the new one is furnished with four upholstered chairs and would make a serviceable waiting room in a doctor’s office.
“We’re here,” Police Chief Tim Richardson told the Police Commission at its meeting Thursday afternoon, Thursday, Sept. 12, held in the new station house’s training room. “We’re still working out some minor bugs but our staff are happy. They’re excited. Smiles on their faces. Overall, I think the structure will go a long way to helping with the physical and mental health of our police officers. That was a consideration when it was designed. The Town Council said, ‘Let’s do it right.’”
STATION HOUSE SPECS
*A dedicated patrol room with enough workspaces for two different shifts. *A dedicated detective bureau.
*A training room which can easily accommodate 20-25.
*Three interview rooms, one on the first floor and two on the second.
*A multijurisdictional room outfitted for the use of other agencies in need of local workspace.
*A holding cell.
*Separate locker and shower rooms for the male and female officers.
*A fitness room.
*A common break room with lunch tables.
*A sally port on the east side of the building.
*A secure evidence room.
TO REHAB OR BUILD NEW?
Since ground broke on the new station house last summer, Richardson has noted on numerous occasions that the department’s old-timers never imagined that they’d ever escape the yellow linoleum and scuffed walls of their rabbit warren. It was Town Council Member Sharon Darnell, D-4th, who broached the almost unthinkable in the winter of 2022. “It’s time to look at that building,” she said. “We all know that Police is sorely in need of reorganization and that there are many other issues with the building.”
Initially the Town Council had hoped that the addition of a second story to the station house would be sufficient to give the CPD the space it needed. But a structural engineer later determined that the unreinforced walls on the first floor and the design of the roof made a second story unfeasible.
So the Town Council took a deep breath and went all in, opting to use ARPA moneys in combination with a bond issue to finance the construction of a brand-new station house, on the municipal parking lot directly across the street.
ENTER THE URSCHEL FAMILY
And yet there was one last snag in the plan: A funding shortfall still existed, not a huge one but large enough perhaps to put a kibosh on the whole thing and doom the CPD’s officers forever to protect and serve from a hovel. The Urschel Family made that shortfall go away, when Chairman Bob Urschel and President and CEO Rick Urschel of Urschel Laboratories Inc. pledged in 2023 to make good on any additional monies required to complete the project as planned.
“Chesterton’s police officers need this station and they deserve it,” Darnell said. “They work hard and put their lives on the line every day. And to do their job they need a station as professional as they are. This isn’t some Taj Mahal but it is a building the Police Department can grow into as the town grows. I’ve thanked the Urschel Family before but I think this is an appropriate time to thank them again. The Urschels are good neighbors and good people. They came through for everyone who lives in Chesterton. They made this project possible.”
