Type: Public

Size: 16,409 square feet

Site: 3.2 acres

Estimated cost: $4.4 million

Architects: SEH Inc.

Details: The St. Paul suburb of Maplewood is proceeding with the construction of a fire station after its City Council signed off on a conditional-use permit and comprehensive plan amendment for the project late last month.

Maplewood Fire Chief Steve Lukin said bids for the project will soon be issued with an early spring 2014 construction start planned for the 16,409-square-foot station.

A completion date of October 2014 has been targeted.

The station will be built on land dedicated to the city by the 3M Co. on a part of its campus along McKnight Road about halfway between Minnehaha and Conway Avenues – just north of where the company is constructing a $150 million research and development center.

The four-bay fire station will replace the city's current No. 1 station at 1177 N. Century Av.

Its exterior, designed by architects SEH Inc., will feature concrete masonry units resembling Kasota stone, while rain gardens will be included to filter stormwater runoff before entering the adjacent 3M Lake.

Don Jacobson, a freelance writer in St. Paul, can be contacted at hotproperty.startribune@gmail.com.