Minnesota officials broke ground Thursday on a $41 million State Emergency Operations Center in Blaine that will have the capacity to house up to 200 people and act as a central hub for response in any future crisis.
Minnesota officials break ground on new State Emergency Operations Center funded after pandemic
The new facility will move operations from a "high-risk" location in downtown St. Paul to Blaine.
October 26, 2023 at 8:41PM
The center, slated to open in 2025, has been debated at the Capitol for more than a dozen years. It finally received funding during a special session of the Legislature in 2020 after the pandemic tested the state's ability to coordinate during a public health emergency.
"Minnesotans don't want to have a tornado, a flood, a fire or a pandemic ... but they happen," said DFL Gov. Tim Walz. "After the pandemic and civil unrest it became very visceral why we needed this."
Officials activated the state's emergency operations center in March 2020 to respond to COVID-19, stationing representatives from many agencies in one place. That center was up and running for 479 consecutive days during the pandemic and was used during the riots following George Floyd's killing.
But emergency management officials said the crisis exposed shortcomings in their longtime headquarters.
The current center is at the middle of a communications dead spot over a parking ramp in downtown St. Paul, where there's too much street and foot traffic and not enough security, said Kristi Rollwagen, the director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The space does not have good air filtration, which became an issue when more than 100 people were crammed inside a building that also houses other businesses at the height of the pandemic.
"Trust me, we smell curry every day from the restaurant," Rollwagen added. "It has only one telecom switching station and it does not have adequate cooking, food storage or lodging capabilities for a 24/7 activation."
The new 37,000-square-foot center in Blaine will sit on 20 acres and serve as the headquarters for 65 staffers from the state's emergency management team. During an ongoing response, the building will have surge capacity to house between 150 to 200 people. Staff can sleep there if needed.
Blaine was picked for its proximity to Minneapolis and St. Paul and its airport. The location also offers the space needed to set up security around the facility.
Issues with Minnesota's current facility have been known since after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, when the state asked the National Guard to conduct an audit on the security operations center.
Homeland Security and Emergency Management, a division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, first requested funding for the building in 2010. Lawmakers funded the project in 2020 and passed additional funding in the 2023 bonding bill, after building costs surged during the pandemic.
"You've got to give people the tools to do their job," Walz said. "The current center is so outdated."
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