Construction of Edina's new multi-million dollar fire station is nearing completion, with move-in set for later this fall.
Edina's new Fire Station 2 is the result of years of research that determined the current Fire Station 2 was not large enough to meet the department's growing call volume, particularly in the city's southeast quadrant.
"Fire does both ambulance and fire response, so we're the only fire-based ambulance service in Hennepin County," Edina Fire chief Andrew Slama says. "So that adds a lot of impact and call volume to our organization."
The new station at 4401 West 76th Street includes new and updated living spaces, on-site training, and space for the department’s Public Health Division.
"I think people do look at what facilities do they have, what resources do they have, how do they invest into their employees, and so I see this as a as a recruitment tool to showcase what the city has for our crews," Slama explains. "It certainly sets us up to respond more appropriately."
Fire Station 2 will replace the one on York Avenue which has become too small says Slama. He adds that firefighter mental health and well-being went into consideration when designing the new facility.
"Whether that's sound, lighting, mental health kind of spaces in here, to kind of allow crews to decompress after they go deal with someone's worst day," he told WCCO's Mark Freie. "And so, that's thoughtful throughout this design."
The project totaled nearly $50 million but Slama says the new station includes some important, new features and on-site training, including a noticeable training tower.
"As you drive by you'll see a large training tower that was put in there as an architectural feature," he says. "But really a utilitarian piece to have our crews perform training in district, whether that's tech rescue, some firefighting evolutions, and even some EMS features in training here. So that's all been through our design process and built into the station."
The department plans to move into the 33,000 square foot facility later this fall.