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Elkhorn Police Department set for grand opening

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Photo by Dan Plutchak

The lobby of the new Elkhorn Police Department, located in the old Walworth County Jail downtown.

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Photo by Dan Plutchak

Signs direct residents to the new Elkhorn Police Department, located in the Walworth County Government Center, on the square downtown.

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Joel B. Christensen

ELKHORN — A police officer shook the dirt from a doorway rug as Chief Joel B. Christensen swiped a speck of dirt from an otherwise perfectly clean wall.

The actions were coincidental in timing but identical in purpose—keep the new digs for Elkhorn police spotless because the public is invited to an open house Saturday morning.

Christensen is as excited about moving into the renovated 14,300 square feet of space for his personnel as a kid getting a BB gun on Christmas morning.

Christensen moved his staff into the new space Aug. 25, leaving behind a cramped station that was only 3,000 square feet, and that included the police garage. The new station occupies two floors of the west wing of the Walworth County Administration Building, 100 W. Walworth St.

The move puts an end to the once-contentious debate on where to locate a new police station.

The city council early last year approved a measure to use the administration building instead of building a new facility in Tasch Park. The project was budgeted for $2.6 million but likely will come in at $1.8 million, Christensen said.

“This space will meet city needs for expansion as the city and police department grow,” Christensen said as he gave a pre-Saturday tour.

The new station is located in what used to be the old Walworth County Sheriff’s Department and county jail in downtown Elkhorn.

The building is owned by the county, which leases space to the Elkhorn police for $1 a year, Christensen said.

With bullet-resistant walls and bullet-proof glass, the station is secure for the public and its staff of 16 full-time officers, two part-time officers, three full-time support staff and two part-time community service officers, he said.

The interior features a state-of-the art evidence collection room that contains a refrigerated section, storage space, a booking room connected to the garage, separate locker rooms with showers for male and female staff, interrogation and conference rooms, dispatch space and a technology services room.

The department’s lobby can be used after 9:45 p.m. as a safe haven by anyone who is fleeing from a dangerous situation, Christenson said. By pushing a green button adjacent to the lobby door, visitors alert the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department that they want to enter the police lobby and have the door lock behind them, allowing no one else to enter.

Elkhorn police do not staff the station after 9:45 p.m., although officers are on night patrols.

The sheriff’s department can monitor the lobby via a security camera and allow the visitor into the safe haven. The person can leave at anytime.

The remodeling of the building included space for Elkhorn municipal court, which is included in the tour.

The only difficulty the department encountered in the remodel was when it put utility mechanicals and antennas on top of the building. The rubber and stone roof was leaking and had to be replaced by the county, Christensen said.

“That set us back a bit,” Christensen said.

But there was never any worry of the excited chief shooting his eye out.

Parts of courthouse still sitting vacant

After the Walworth County courts and sheriff’s department vacated the old Walworth County Courthouse, a tumultuous period of interior remodeling occurred in the downtown Elkhorn building.

Walworth County Public Works Director Shane Crawford sighed “no” when asked if there were future build-out plans for the structure that’s made up of three wings.

In the west wing, the entire second floor once housed the county jail.

After the jail’s relocation, the cells were removed from the room, although cage-like outlines of cellblocks remain etched on the concrete floor of the vacant and undeveloped space.

The other half of the second floor houses parts of the new Elkhorn Police Station.

“Half of the second floor is still available, and we have no proposals for its use,” Crawford said.

The first floor of the west wing houses the station and the remodeled Elkhorn Municipal Court.

The central wing is home to the UW Extension Office, the county’s land use department, the county clerk, register of deeds, county treasurer and the county finance department.

The east wing houses the new county board room and the county administration office. Crawford said he’s pleased with the police department remodel and called it a fine example of governmental cooperation.