Copyright Chicago Tribune
The Tinley Park Police Department’s training facility in the 17300 block of 69th Avenue is closing due to maintenance issues, officials said, and the village is looking to build a new gun range near the village police station. But in the meantime, officers will train at a $10 million dollar facility in Orland Park. Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz said he would like a new training facility and gun range to be built next to the police station along 183rd Street, away from residents, which he said would be more convenient for the police department. But ideas for the new range are still conceptual, and the village has not set a closing date for the building yet, he said. For the time being, the village finalized an agreement to pay Orland Park to use that village’s new 5,400-square-foot, $10 million training facility at 10609 163rd Place, about three miles from the border of Tinley Park, that opened in July. Orland Park is charging Tinley Park half of its usual fee to use the facility, in recognition of Tinley Park allowing Orland Park police to use its facility while the Orland Park facility was under construction. Tinley Park will compensate Orland Park based on the number of training hours purchased each month and whether an Orland Park range officer is present. When no range officer is present, Tinley will pay $375 per hour for 32-hour blocks of time per month or $540 per hour for less than 32-hour blocks. If a range officer is present, those hourly rates increase to $475 and $640. Orland Park will provide weapons, ammunition, ear and eye protection, body armor, cleaning equipment, targets and a place to store ammunition, but Tinley will be responsible for any damaged property, and officers are required to agree to the training facility standard operating procedures before using the facility. The agreement also allows retired Tinley Park police officers to complete their annual conceal carry qualifications at the Orland Park facility. “We are grateful for our good working relationship with Orland Park,” Glotz said. “This new space will provide our officers with the tools and technology to train more effectively and safely than ever before.” The Orland Park facility features modern classrooms, advanced 25 yard live-fire lines, a cutting-edge virtual simulator, a tactic room equipped with mats, a firearms cleaning room and a break room, Glotz said. The Orland facility opened in July after a 2020 assessment of Orland facilities determined the previous gun range was too small and caused safety issues. Orland Park police Commander Scott Lefko said since the opening of the police training facility this summer, the “feedback has been nothing but positive.” A start date for using the Orland Park facility has not been set yet, according to Pat Carr, Tinley Park’s village manager. The Tinley Park training facility is closing after 59 years due to its age, mounting maintenance issues and because the department has outgrown it, Carr said. Glotz said the 59-year-old building needs new HVAC that could cost $22,550, a new roof that could cost $38,000, along with classroom renovations, new flooring, new ceilings, new lighting, painting and more that could total to $38,000. He also said the exterior needs $85,000 in work, which creates a grand total of $183,550 in needed repairs. “There are many costs to bring the outdated range up to par, but it still lacks the proper training they actually need and deserve,” Glotz said. Moreover, Carr said village officials have heard from residents a need for additional parking downtown, and the old training site could be cleared to make room for the parking, but Carr said nothing has been confirmed. “We are currently assessing the space needs of all village departments, and this is one of them,” Carr said. The training facility and firearms range that is closing was erected in 1966 on land that was donated by Standard Oil. Over the years, officials said the building stood as the “cornerstone of training, tradition and excellence,” a legacy that officials said they would like to honor. “Generations of officers have honed their skills, forged friendships and created memories that help shape our department’s history,” a Tinley police statement on the closing said. “Here’s to continuing the tradition of excellence and a new generation of friendships and memories. This is not just the end of an era, but the beginning of a new one.”
