Rockford Plans $7M Warehouse Renovate For Police Operations

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — Rockford officials plan a $7 million renovation of a vacant industrial building to hold the police department's property and evidence unit, crime-scene investigations and a shooting range.

The Rockford Register-Star reports that the city will borrow money to rehab the structure it purchased for $600,000.

The move will allow the police department to exit the downtown public safety building. Winnebago County terminated the city's lease there in March and gave the department a year to move out.

The public safety building once housed both city police and the county sheriff's department. The police department retains its property and evidence unit there.

Police will consolidate several disparate units at the former warehouse. It is 81,000 square feet (7,500 square meters) and will hold an estimated 120,000 pieces of property and evidence.