Old fire station could be new home for Fridley arts center

An arts center being evicted from its space at the end of the year apparently has found a new home in a decommissioned fire station in Fridley.

The Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts also is taking back its original name from the 1970s and will rebrand itself as the North Suburban Center for the Arts (NSCA).

The NSCA is working with the city to negotiate a lease for Fire Station No. 3, which has been vacant since 2018 when Fridley relocated its fire department to City Hall. Terms include the ability to renovate the space and the option to buy the building at East River Road and NE. 77th Way when the arts center has enough money.

"We're incredibly excited to share our intended next steps and to start this partnership with the city of Fridley," Executive Director Abby Kosberg said. "Having ownership of our space has been a strategic goal for quite some time, and we're thankful that the city is open to working out an agreement that will allow us to move forward."

For more than 30 years, the arts center has operated in a historic building owned by Anoka County. But the county's Parks Committee in June ended its annual $50,000 contribution to the NSCA that helped cover programming costs and told the nonprofit arts center to vacate the building on the north end of Manomin Park by Dec. 31.

The move came as the Parks Committee faced a $1.6 million budget deficit. Ending the contract was one option to help erase the shortfall, Anoka County Parks Director Jeff Perry said at the time.

A report in June also revealed the county would need to spend about $1.5 million to repair the siding, roof and foundation of the former tavern and farmhouse used by the arts center.

With nowhere to go and financial difficulties of its own, the arts center's future looked bleak, though all summer programs continued. Fall events also will go on as scheduled, Kosberg said.

The NSCA recently kicked off a "Home is Where the Art Is" campaign to raise $100,000 by the end of the year. About half has come in so far, Kosberg said.

As part of the fundraiser, the NSCA is selling prints of the firehouse for $15, according to the art center's Facebook page.

The arts center has hired an architect to devise plans to renovate the fire station. It hopes to open its new home in early 2022, Kosberg said.

Lease details still need to be worked out, but the arrangement seems to have support from Fridley Mayor Scott Lund.

"We recognize the value of the arts in our city and believe our decommissioned building could provide a good, stable home for NSCA," he said. "Fundraising will be key in order for this vision to come to life since no property tax dollars will be used to support this project."

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768