Forest Lake Introduces New Gov't Center To The Community
FOREST LAKE, Minn. (WCCO) – The community of Forest Lake was first invited into the city's new government center last month.
This brand new building gives the city departments a "front-door" to Forest Lake residents.
WCCO's Ali Lucia takes you on tour of the building that city leaders believe is helpful in making the northeast suburb run much more efficiently.
After the grand opening in December there are still a few finishing touches left at Forest Lake's new Joint Municipal Facility.
This one stop shop is home to the local fire and police departments, as well as home to city council meetings.
Gary Sigfrinius, who has been Forest Lake's Fire Chief for the better part of two decades, calls this facility a major upgrade.
"We came from a cinder block building that the electrical wiring was rotted out of, a building where modern fire apparatus no longer fit," Sigfrinius said.
A signature piece in the new building is a fire pole, which connects the second floor of the fire station to the ground level.
Cindy McCleary, the lead architect from the design team at LEO A Daly, describes the pole as a meeting point between the past and present of the fire department.
"This is just a representation of a little bit of that history that's going to carry forward for the next 100 years," McCleary said.
The pole isn't just a center piece of the fire department but will also be put to use as the department expands. Forest Lake fire fighters can now train on-site and the station was built with room to expand.
Senior Architect at LEO A Daley, Joe Bower, said major portions of the building rely on natural light, as well as beat the energy code by 36 percent.
"It's a radiant floor slab in the fire station. So, it actually warms efficiently through thermal mass as well as melting the snow off the trucks, that sort of thing," Bower said.
As for the police headquarters, this garage is considered a luxury.
Chief Richard Peterson said his staff used to only have a two stall garage. Now, warmer vehicles in the winter months make for better use of his staff's time.
"From the response for our calls for service, officer safety and just keeping the technology in the patrol vehicles warm, this new facility is a huge upgrade," Peterson said.
For now the architects are hopeful this new building will at least inspire others to get involved in their community, all starting with a beautiful entrance.
"The front porch where conversation starts, where community happens, where politics and quality of life are happening on a day to day basis," McCleary said.
The entire project came in under budget by about $1.5 million.
Initial renderings had the building about 10,000 square feet larger, but the architects were able to maximize the smaller space.