HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 11-05 Tour '3M fire station' Nov. 15 MAPLEWOOD REVIEW Tour `3M fire
station' Nov. 15
05 2014
A open house and ribbon cutting ceremony
are scheduled for the new Maplewood Fire and
Police South Station, located on the 3M cam-
pus east of McKnight Road and south of Min-
nehaha Avenue,at 10 a.m.Saturday,Nov.15.
After a brief presentation people can tour the
new facility and enjoy refreshments at an open
house until noon.
The new station replaces Fire Station No. 1
at 1177 Century Ave. N. Planners expect the
new location will put fire and police services in
a better place to respond to Maplewood's south-
ern leg.
The new site raised some controversy among
East Side residents in the neighborhood just
across McKnight who pointed out they'd get
all the "benefit" of hearing sirens and vehicle
rollouts but their own fire crews are dispatched
from several miles away. St. Paul City Council
member Kathy Lantry and Community Coun-
cil director Betsy Leach complained on behalf
of their residents about the noise and lights,
but Maplewood officials countered that rolling
emergency vehicles out onto McKnight without
lights and sirens would in itself be a safety haz-
ard.
The building's construction only took six
months following an April 14 groundbreaking.
It hit a brief setback when a 24-year-old Maple-
wood man was found heaving spools of copper
piping from the site into his pickup truck Sept.
9. He was arrested and charged with burglary
and theft.
The 26,000-square-foot structure will field
four-fire-rig bays, offices; a police Substation
and a dorm for on-call firefighters.