East Fire Station & Lilac Dr
East Fire Station Project Updates
On July 7, 2026 the City Council hired Terra Construction for construction manager at risk (CMAR) services, Leo A Daly for architecture and engineering services to design the new fire station, and SEH, Inc. to design and reconstruct Lila Drive.
Project Background
Fire Departments across the country are in transition.
The three main reasons include challenges in:
recruiting and retaining non-career firefighters
achieving best practices for firefighting equipment, training, and operations
accommodating modern firefighting equipment, training, and operations
Golden Valley is no different. In 2016, the Golden Valley Fire Department (GVFD) completed a study to identify what it needs to do to continue to provide the community with high-quality, fast, and efficient emergency services while being fiscally responsible with taxpayer funding. This was followed in 2020 by a study of all City facilities to determine future needs and opportunities.
The East Fire Station priorities include:
Priority #1: Provide a facility that supports both the current and future needs of the Golden Valley Fire Department including ability to support 24/7 staffing and providing equitable facilities for all staff members.
Priority #2: Provide a health-focused facility that improves cancer prevention measures and supports the long-term health of Golden Valley Fire Department staff.
Priority #3: Consider innovative design that maximizes the footprint of the proposed project site and enhances operational efficiency, safety and training opportunities for Golden Valley Fire Department staff.
The Realignment of Lilac Drive
Located next to the future East Fire Station, Lilac Dr is a roadway with a complicated alignment and low visibility. It often creates challenges for drivers, walkers, and rollers.
The proposed Lilac Dr realignment project area is located between Duluth St and St Croix Ave. This is a critical section serving a wide range of users. In addition to being near both businesses and residential properties, this area provides access to nearby offices, institutions, parks and natural areas, public facilities, and residential neighborhoods. The roadway also serves as an important connection to the Bassett Creek Regional Trail and Hwy 100.
The Lilac Dr realignment project will reconstruct portions of the roadway that are in poor condition and restore pavement sections that do not require full reconstruction. Planned improvements will:
allow safer access for emergency vehicles
make it safer for drivers, walkers, and bikers
bring the roadway up to current standards
improve visibility on the roadway by reducing the curve of the road
The City is advancing its East Fire Station project to enhance operational efficiency and emergency response times.
This initiative involves consolidating Fire Stations 2 and 3 into a single, strategically located facility along the Hwy 100 corridor.
The current stations fall short of modern standards for firefighter safety, health, wellness, and equity. Due to structural and functional limitations, renovating them is not a viable option. Additionally, renovating existing stations is not feasible due to costs and restrictions posed by the current site sizes. The three current fire station locations are not geographically optimized for today’s updated highway system. Station 3 provides coverage for Minneapolis, while Station 2 (Turners Crossroad) no longer connects to main roads but also provides coverage into St. Louis Park. To improve efficiencies and response times, the City needs to consolidate Stations 2 and 3 to one remote fire station along the Hwy 100 corridor.
Fire Station Location Project Process
From 2023 to 2025, the City explored optimal site options and hosted multiple public information and community engagement sessions to gather resident feedback and provide project status updates.
Over 30 potential sites were evaluated for the new East Fire Station, with each location assessed based on key criteria such as emergency response times, land acquisition and development costs, site size, long-term sustainability, and overall community impact.
After a comprehensive review, City Council directed staff to further study the top four scoring locations:
Fiest Automotive site at 1875 Lilac Dr
MnDOT-owned parcel at 2055 Lilac Dr
medical office buildings located behind Lunds & Byerlys at 5801 and 5851 Duluth St
Schaper Park at 631 Ottawa Ave
Following detailed analysis that included feasibility, cost, accessibility, and alignment with response goals, 1875 Lilac Dr emerged as the most suitable option for the new East Fire Station. Its central, strategic location along the Hwy 100 corridor offers optimal emergency coverage for the eastern part of Golden Valley while minimizing disruption to the community and ensuring long-term operational efficiency.
The new East Fire Station will significantly improve emergency response times with its strategic location on Hwy 100, allowing the GVFD to respond more quickly to a larger portion of the city than the current three-station model allows.
Transitioning to two two well-placed stations improves overall city coverage within the critical 4-minute response window. The current three stations are not optimally located, leaving some parts of the city underserved. The updated two-station model reduces overlapping coverage in some areas and extends faster response access to previously under-covered regions, ultimately increasing efficiency and reducing response times.
About the City’s Fire Stations
Golden Valley’s Fire Department currently operates out of three fire stations:
Fire Station 1 (Civic Campus at 7800 Golden Valley Rd), which is the largest and most central fire station
Fire Station 2 (Turners Crossroad and Laurel Ave), which is near the St Louis Park border
Fire Station 3 (Golden Valley Rd and Bonnie Ln), which is near the Minneapolis border
A 2016 study of Golden Valley’s fire/rescue operations concluded the City needed to move from a three-station paid on-call staffing model to a two station duty crew staffing model. In 2021, the City of Golden Valley completed an analysis of all of its facilities needs that reaffirmed the findings of its 2016 fire/rescue operation study and identified a new remote fire station as the City’s number one facilities priority.
The City’s analysis shows that a new East Fire Station will:
accommodate 24/7 staffing of duty crews
provide equitable facilities for male and female staff
improve response time with a central, strategic location east of Hwy 100
reduce reliance on neighboring communities to respond to Golden Valley incidents
improve cancer prevention measures to better protect firefighters
locate personnel and gear a safe distance away from moving trucks
accommodate larger, modern fire trucks and equipment
increase efficiencies for training and maintenance
reduce the amount of firefighting equipment needed by consolidating stations
provide facilities for hands-on training
address ADA and accessibility challenges
In addition, a new remote station in Golden Valley will provide a regional resource for mutual aid response and training opportunities for other fire departments.
In the news…
Golden Valley has outgrown its fire stations, published by the SunPost on Aug 3, 2025. Updated Sep 17, 2025.
Current Staff Resting Space
Current Staff Men’s Lockers
Current Staff Women’s Lockers
Contact Us
Community Development Department
Phone: 763-593-8030
Emily Goellner, AICP
Community & Economic Development Director
Phone: 763-593-8008
Additional Resources
Read more about the changing needs of the City’s Fire Department by expanding the headers below.
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Golden Valley’s fire stations were established to support a paid on-call staffing structure, which is no longer sustainable in today’s culture. Fire departments nationwide are finding it more and more difficult to recruit and retain paid on-call firefighters due to increased family and job obligations. This is also making it more difficult to respond to fire calls within Industry response-time standards.
The 2016 study concluded Golden Valley needs to move from a three-station paid on-call staffing model to a two-station duty crew staffing model. To accommodate this, the City needs facilities to house firefighters 24 hours a day.
In response to recruiting challenges and retention issues, in March 2022 the GVFD began staffing duty crews, rotating between the three fire stations. Each crew includes three to four paid on-call firefighters scheduled from 5 pm to 11 pm Monday through Friday, and Saturday and Sunday from 8 am to 11 pm. Full-time GVFD staff (chief officers and fire inspectors) cover from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday.
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GVFD’s current facilities do not provide adequate measures to protect firefighter health and safety. Stations are not equipped with ample workspace to reduce exposure to carcinogens and proper facilities to clean carcinogens off equipment and gear. Additionally, the current facilities lack ventilation systems that work to reduce exposure and spread of carcinogens throughout the building.
The current facilities also lack a protected space for firefighters to dress for calls. Current best practices include having separate equipment and non-equipment zones to prevent cross-contamination from harmful carcinogens and other contaminants brought back from incident scenes.
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The current fire stations lack adequate training space, which means most training occurs on concrete and outdoors, which is not ideal in winter. Additionally, it means the Department often has to travel to neighboring Cities to utilize their training facilities. Current stations do not have sleeping quarters, which are needed for the City to transition to duty crew staffing. The current facilities do not offer adequate locker room space, including gender-equitable amenities. Many of the spaces dedicated to women are much smaller and do not offer the same amenities as the male spaces do.
The transition to duty crew staffing will ensure long-term resiliency of the fire department and its operations. Facilities must first accommodate contemporary firefighting equipment and enable best firefighting practices. This includes:
drive-through truck bays
space to avoid conflicts with large vehicles and pedestrians
a protected space for firefighters to dress for calls
equitable facilities for male and female staff
improved spaces for maintenance, hands-on training, and physical fitness training
