Kendall County plans to buy former fire station for $750,000 as part of major downtown Yorkville campus expansion

YORKVILLE – Kendall County officials are planning a major expansion of the county government’s downtown Yorkville campus.

The county is working to purchase the former Bristol-Kendall Fire Protection District station building at 101 W. Fox St.

Located at the northwest corner of Fox and South Bridge Street (Route 47), the five-bay garage would be renovated for the county’s Facilities Management Department.

Meanwhile, the county will build a new building for the Kendall County Clerk’s Office, including the clerk’s Elections Office, immediately to the north along Route 47.

The plan also calls for site improvements to make the clerk’s office and the rest of the campus more accessible and walkable, County Administrator Scott Koeppel said.

The downtown Yorkville campus includes the Kendall County Office Building at 111 W. Fox St., which is home to the administration, clerk, treasurer and other offices, along with the meeting room for the Kendall County Board.

To the north is the Historic Courthouse at 110 W. Madison St., which is the headquarters for the Kendall County Forest Preserve District.

A parking lot is located between the two buildings, with access from South Main Street, which forms the western boundary of the campus. The lot would be expanded and reconfigured under the expansion plan.

The county intends to purchase the former Bristol-Kendall fire station from Paul and Cynthia Buck for $750,000.

The property sale was included as a line item on the county board’s Nov. 29 meeting agenda, but was removed at the last minute.

County officials say the cost of buying the building is much less than constructing a new structure.

“We will save that much or more,” said county board member Matt Kellogg, the finance committee chairman.

The county is expecting to invest another $500,000 to renovate the building for use by the Facilities Management Department and its fleet of vehicles.

With Facilities Management leaving its headquarters at the county’s other main campus on West John Street in Yorkville, room will be created for the expansion of the Kendall County Coroner’s Office, Koeppel said.

The timeline for the expansion plan starts with construction of the new clerk’s office building in 2023, so that it will be ready for the 2024 elections, Koeppel said.

Cost estimates for the new clerk’s building are in the $3 million to $4 million range, both Koeppel and Kellogg said. The county has the funding for the expansion projects and will not need a tax referendum, Koeppel added.

Once County Clerk Debbie Gillette has vacated her offices on the second floor of the county building along with the Elections Office on the first floor, the county will be in a position to renovate those spaces for other uses, Koeppel said.

Renovations for the former Bristol-Kendall fire station would take place during 2024, Koeppel said, after which expansion of the coroner’s office could get underway.