April 2005 · Volume 87 · Number 3
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Fire Station Conversion
In October 2004, a town-gown collaboration came true when a regional center for the College of DuPage, Illinois, opened its doors. The 11,650-square-foot center was once a working fire station in the village of Carol Stream, Illinois (population 41,000).
This college regional center was once a working fire station.
The technology/community education center now provides workspace for college students, with facilities that include two computer classrooms and one computer lab; two classrooms for credit and noncredit courses; one multipurpose science lab; and a community meeting space that is shared with a library and can accommodate some 200 people. Carol Stream residents can also take advantage of tuition-free computer literacy workshops and free use of the facility's open computer lab and meeting room space.
Carol Stream's retired Village Manager Greg Bielawski, who wanted to bridge the digital divide in the village and also address its educational needs, supported the center. Two years ago, with the continued support of current Manager Joseph Breinig, the village donated land to the fire protection district to build a new fire station.
The district donated the 35-year-old fire station and adjacent land to the College of DuPage, and the college invested $3 million to remodel, furnish, and equip the center. The village provided $250,000 to fund a large portion of the center's technology needs. Bielawski sums it up best by stating "this is a wonderful example of cooperation among governmental entities and the resulting benefits to the taxpayers.
By swapping properties, the Carol Stream Fire Protection District will not incur the cost of acquiring property for a new site at market rates and the College of DuPage is able to obtain a free building and land to establish a regional center."
—Robert Mellor
Assistant Village Manager
Carol Stream, Illinois
bmellor@carolstream.org