Kendall County Board eyeing improvements to sheriff’s office, other county buildings

Even as work continues on the $9.9 million renovation of the Kendall County Office Building on the Fox Street campus in downtown Yorkville, Kendall County officials are eyeing improvements to other county buildings.

County officials are looking at possible improvements to offices next to or part of the county’s John Street campus. That includes improvements to the Richard A. Randall Public Safety Center, which houses the sheriff’s office and jail, KenCom Public Safety Dispatch and the Kendall County Emergency Management Agency.

Improvements to the Kendall County Animal Control building and the Kendall County Coroner’s Office also are being considered. A solar farm, built to provide power to the Public Safety Center, Kendall County Judicial Center and Public Health Department, also is located on the campus.

At the June 17 Kendall County Board meeting, board members approved giving architectural, planning and engineering firm Cordogan Clark & Associates a $100,000 fixed fee to provide concept design documents for the project.

“This is a comprehensive look at the southern portion of the John Street campus,” Kendall County Facilities Director Dan Polvere said in a memo to Kendall County Board members. “At the end of the study, the county will be in a position to begin the architecture and engineering of the phases of the projects based on the board’s direction.”

Construction could begin by the spring or summer of 2026. The project to renovate the Kendall County Office Building is expected to be completed by the beginning of next year.

The Kendall County Office Building project will include full renovations to the entire building, except the boardroom and the executive board conference room. The improvements will be paid for from the county’s fiscal 2024 building fund, with the remainder budgeted in the fiscal 2025 building fund.

As Brian DeBolt, chairman of the board’s facilities and technology committee, had told fellow board members, the elevator for the Kendall County Office Building is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and is not safe.

“So that would be replaced,” he said. “The stairways would be replaced, which are now enclosed, with a glass atrium to bring natural light into those spaces. The third-floor hallway system would be removed, and the other two floors would be expanded by department for future growth of Kendall County. And by doing all this, it should take us maybe three decades down the road.”

He added that as the population growth continues, the county has to “prepare in advance so that we have the spaces available” to meet the needs as programs grow.

All bathrooms in the building also will be made ADA accessible. Kendall County Board Chairman Matt Kellogg said the improvements will enhance public access.

“The majority of the public access will be on the first floor instead of people having go up and down stairs,” he said. “The elevator is antiquated to say the least. We’ve put hundreds of thousands of dollars into repairs for it since I’ve been on the board.”

Kellogg has served on the County Board since 2016. Kendall County Administrator Christina Burns talked more about how the project will improve public access, including having a public service window for the treasurer’s office and a reception area outside the County Board room.

It will just be a more inviting atmosphere,” Burns said. “There will be a three-story open-air reception area. There will be better signage and better directions. People often don’t know where they’re going in this building.”

Also, as part of the improvements, the main entrance to the building will be moved.

Along with those building projects, the Kendall County clerk, recorder and election offices moved into a new building last year.

The new $9.4 million building, located at 502 S. Main St. in downtown Yorkville, was constructed between the historic Kendall County Courthouse and the Kendall County Office Building at 111 W. Fox St.

The project was funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act.