Frequently Asked Questions: East Fire Station

  • Golden Valley residents rely on the City to provide a wide range of essential services, such as maintaining streets, parks, and water and sewer systems and providing emergency response and public safety.

    Over the past several years, the City has been assessing its aging public buildings to determine where improvements are needed. It concluded that the buildings that house Fire Departments can no longer adequately support the efficient delivery of City services.

    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 new East Fire Station will significantly improve emergency response times with its strategic location on Highway 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.

  • The new East Fire Station will significantly improve emergency response times with its strategic location on Highway 100, allowing the GVFD to respond more quickly to a larger portion of the city than the current three-station model allows. The Fire Department will be able to staff the station 24/7, enhancing service and response for both fire and medical emergencies. The new station will also reduce reliance on neighboring communities, provide equitable facilities for all staff, and enhance firefighter safety through better cancer prevention measures and safer gear placement.

  • The City will have a contract for the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR), and a separate contract for the Architect. In addition to the CMAR and Architect, the City will have additional contracts with supporting services such as building commissioning agents, construction testing agencies, surveying companies, and an owner’s representatives.

  • The East Fire Station is being funded through several sources that are separate from the 1.25 percent optional sales tax. Funding for the East Fire Station project will come from a combination of city funds and government bonds. Bonds are a type of long-term loan utilized by government entities to finance major, long-term capital projects such as roads, schools, and other public infrastructure. Borrowing for large project enables government entities to distribute the costs across future years. 

    In 2023, the City received nearly $3.2 million in state grant funding to contribute to this project. The City will use these funds to acquire and improve property and create early designs.

  • The City acquired the property at 1875 Lilac Drive N on May 1st, 2026, and installed fencing around the project site to keep the building secured. Contracting with both the CMAR and the Architect is anticipated to be completed in July 2026. Upon contracting, formal design coordination for the East Fire Station will commence, with early site activities such as building demolition and site preparations taking place Fall 2026. Demolition and site preparation activities will likely continue into the early winter months as weather permits. During the late winter months, design will continue to progress, with new building construction anticipated to begin formally in the spring of 2027, and wrapping up summer 2028.

Project Purpose & Benefits

  • Yes, the City released an RFP on March 17, 2026 for architectural and design services for the fire station.

  • The City received 10 proposals and interviewed 3 finalists. The City is currently working on determining a finalist and bringing a recommendation to City Council.

  • Yes, the City Council has to approve the contract for architectural services for the new fire station. Any contract over $20,000 requires City Council action. City Council will consider this contract on July 7, 2026.

Architectural Services

  • A Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) is the contractor that the City will hire to manage and build the new East Fire Station. This approach also refers to the way the project is delivered—where the contractor takes on responsibility for staying on budget, on schedule, and delivering quality work. Unlike traditional methods, where the contractor is brought in after the design is complete, CMAR allows the City to involve the contractor much earlier in the process. This gives the contractor the opportunity to provide input on preconstruction budgeting, scheduling, and construction materials while plans are still being developed. By working together early, the City and contractor will agree to a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for project costs upfront, which helps reduce financial risk and avoid unexpected surprises. In the end, this team-based approach helps the project move forward faster, run more smoothly, and stay closer to budget. 

  • A Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) in construction is a contract agreement that sets a firm upper limit on the total cost of a project. The contractor develops this price based on detailed estimates of labor, materials, and other expenses, often with input gathered during early project planning. If costs exceed the GMP, the contractor is typically responsible for covering the overrun, which helps protect the owner from unexpected expenses. Overall, a GMP provides cost certainty and encourages careful planning, collaboration, and efficient project management.

  • In the traditional design-bid-build delivery method, plans are developed to 100% and then issued publicly for contractor bidding. The selection process will typically consist of hiring the lowest bid for the work, which can lead to unforeseen costs through the duration of the project due to lack of contractor and architect collaboration in the design phase. The CMAR process enables the City to select uniquely qualified contractors much earlier in the design phase. A formal Request for Proposal (RFP) process is initiated publicly, which allows multiple contractors to submit proposals to the City highlighting important information such as their relevant project experience, proposed project team, fee for the work and other pertinent information. The City will develop their own scoring criteria for evaluation of these proposals based on priorities such as team experience, project experience, communication, and cost, thus providing the opportunity to select a contractor based on the best value provided to the project, and not necessarily just the lowest bid. The contractor’s expertise can then be leveraged throughout the design process, providing real time cost information, constructability reviews, and early procurement of materials to ensure schedule does not slip.

  • The CMAR is a very critical member of the project team. They are true building experts and having them involved early in the project, as the CMAR contracting process allows, the project architect can leverage their construction expertise early in the design process. This early collaboration between CMAR and Architect often leads to better coordinated construction plans, identification of construction material & equipment procurement risks, and real time cost evaluation, which in turn helps keep the project within budget and mitigates risks and added costs well before construction begins.

  • The City released a request for qualifications (RFQ) and a subsequent request for proposals (RFP) for construction manager at risk (CMAR).

  • The CMAR is the contractor who manages the actual construction of the building and oversees the building trades from start to finish. The architect promotes and manages the overall vision of the project in conjunction with City Stakeholders. They will oversee and coordinate all design components and consultants, from civil/site work and mechanical/electrical/plumbing systems, all the way through finish selection and design. They are responsible for drafting and managing all construction plans, details and project specifications that guide the CMAR through the construction process. The architect ensures that the building plans and specifications meet local and federal code requirements, work alongside the CMAR to ensure the design stays within the approved budget, and ensures the CMAR keeps moving forward on site by helping coordinate day to day issues and questions.  

  • The City received 7 proposals during the RFP process.

  • Yes, the City Council has to approve the contract for architectural services for the new fire station. Any contract over $20,000 requires City Council action. City Council will consider this contract on July 7, 2026.

Construction Manager at Risk

Station Location & Design

  • May 1, 2026.

  • 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 Drive

    • MnDOT-owned parcel at 2055 Lilac Drive

    • Medical office buildings located behind Lunds & Byerlys at 5801 and 5851 Duluth Street

    • Schaper Park at 631 Ottawa Avenue

    Following detailed analysis that included feasibility, cost, accessibility, and alignment with response goals, 1875 Lilac Drive emerged as the most suitable option for the new East Fire Station. Its central, strategic location along the Highway 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.

  • While the parcel at 1875 Duluth Street is small, preliminary testing indicates that a fire station can feasibly fit. A design process will begin after acquisition.

  • The Fire Department headquarters in the new Public Safety building will continue to serve the central and western parts of Golden Valley, allowing the new East Fire Station to focus on improving coverage for the eastern portion of the city. By consolidating Stations 2 and 3 into the East Fire Station along the Highway 100 corridor, the City is addressing outdated response coverage caused by changes to surrounding roadways. This strategic relocation ensures more efficient deployment and supports improved response times across the entire community.

  • Updates to Lilac Drive are in concept-level consideration at this time. A design process for Lilac Drive improvements will be on a similar timeline as the East Fire Station.

  • For the past two years, GVFD has responded to an average of eight calls for service per day. Of those, almost half are handled by the weekday staff, who respond from Station 1 (7700 Golden Valley Rd). The average of four calls per day from the East Fire Station would not be a significant increase to emergency traffic in the area compared to what currently occurs.

  • The City’s three current fire station locations are not geographically optimized for today’s updated highway system. Renovating existing stations is not feasible due to costs and restrictions posed by the current site sizes.

    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.

    Additionally, the configurations of the City’s fire stations do not meet today’s standards for protecting firefighters’ health and safety. Because they do not allow for living accommodations that would support a 24-hour firefighter duty crew, the City has faced challenges in retaining and attracting firefighters.

  • Once the Building Forward process is further along, the City will need to decide the viability of reuse. The City will continue to work with residents to identify opportunities and priorities for new investments.