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S. M. Wilson & Co. Completes State-of-the-Art Public Safety Building in IL

April 6, 2022

The 31,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility houses Highland’s police, fire and emergency medical services departments under one roof, including a communications, reception and data center.

The 31,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility houses the city’s police, fire and emergency medical services departments under one roof.

ST. LOUIS, MO – S. M. Wilson & Co. has completed the new $6.8 million Highland Public Safety Building in Highland, Illinois. The 31,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility houses the city’s police, fire and emergency medical services departments under one roof, including a communications, reception and data center. The new facility will allow the city’s emergency services to double their capacity to meet increased demand in the future. The fire department moved into the facility last month. Police and EMS moved in earlier this year. S. M. Wilson was the general contractor and Loyet Architects was the architect.

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S. M. Wilson collaborated with the City of Highland as well as the design team on value engineering solutions to ensure that the project was delivered on time and within budget. The new facility features a training/community room, bunk rooms, locker rooms and showers for first responders as well as a holding area and sally port for secure prisoner dropoff. An eight-car garage for police vehicles as well as a three-bay apparatus for ambulance and fire vehicle storage and maintenance was constructed.

The facility’s International Code Council (ICC) 500 storm shelter houses a dispatch room with bulletproof glass and a data room. It was constructed to withstand high winds associated with tornadoes and hurricanes.

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“S. M. Wilson’s pride in the quality of their work and willingness to perform any task in order to help make the project go as smoothly as possible has exceeded our expectations,” said Chris Conrad, Highland City Manager. “We view S. M. Wilson as a collaborator and partner and appreciate their dedication to our project and community.”

Since the new facility is located adjacent to Highland High School, S. M. Wilson used the opportunity to create hands-on learning activities for students related to construction through its SKILLED program.

ABOUT S. M. WILSON & CO.

S. M. Wilson is a full-service construction management, design/build and general contracting firm with headquarters in St. Louis and offices in Edwardsville, IL and Cape Girardeau, MO. Founded in 1921, S. M. Wilson is dedicated to going above and beyond expectations for their clients by putting people first. The 100% employee-owned company is one of the leading construction management firms in the Midwest. Areas of expertise include K-12 education, commercial, healthcare and government projects. For more information, visit www.smwilson.com.