Former Glen Ellyn Police Department is Potential Home for 'Innovation DuPage' Project

GLEN ELLYN, IL – The opening of the new Glen Ellyn Police Department at 65 S. Park Boulevard has made space available in the department's former Civic Center home, which may soon accommodate a regional project, officials said.

"This allows for the opportunity for the village of Glen Ellyn and College of DuPage (COD) to potentially partner together to fill the space to utilize it for COD’s small business development center operations," they said, in a news release. "While these discussions are preliminary, the Village and COD will be considering entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize a process to design and cost out improvements to the Civic Center in order to meet these needs."

The College of DuPage's work with the Village and Choose DuPage Economic Development Alliance about six months ago spurred discussion about creating an innovation center near downtown Glen Ellyn. Private investor groups and other higher education institutions have also joined the endeavor, which COD is now calling “Innovation DuPage.” A variety of sites in downtown Glen Ellyn were viewed as options. Ultimately, the Civic Center was determined to be the best location to meet this vision by all potential partners working to create the innovation center.

“Glen Ellyn is centrally located within the anticipated innovation center service area,” said Joseph Cassidy, dean of continuing education and extended learning at College of DuPage. “The Civic Center is also easily accessible to potential clients, very accessible to the train, and is more visible to potential stakeholders.”

If discussions between the Village and COD continue to progress well, next steps would include both parties entering into a license agreement and/or intergovernmental agreement that would formalize this partnership.

Image courtesy of village of Glen Ellyn Facebook page