St. Cloud opens new fire headquarters at former charter school site

St. Cloud city leaders and firefighters celebrated the opening of the city’s new Fire Headquarters on Progress Lane Thursday.Rather than constructing a new facility, the city renovated a former charter school for less than $3.5 million. City officials said the project saved millions of dollars compared with building a headquarters from the ground up.The new headquarters brings fire department leadership, fire prevention, EMS and logistics operations together under one roof.Fire Chief Jason Miller said the department had outgrown its previous administrative space at Station 31, particularly after adding nearly 50 firefighters through federal SAFER grant funding.The Progress Lane property also houses St. Cloud Police Department operations and includes about 40,000 square feet of modular space used by other city offices.The project is part of broader public safety expansion in St. Cloud. The city has also added Fire Stations 32 and 35 and plans to break ground next month on a new Public S