Shakopee City Council to Hear Two Proposals for Downtown Fire Station

Two groups have responded to the city of Shakopee's request for proposals regarding the use of the former downtown fire station.

One, led by Mike Haeg, is River Valley Cooperative Arts, an organization formed with this facility in mind. They propose repurposing the fire station as a cultural community center.

The other group is Shakopee Brewing Company of Savage, which registered with the state of Minnesota in July. Their plans include brewing 2,000 barrels of beer annually starting in May 2013 and they'd like to lease or purchase the building to do so, according to city documents.

The city council in March tabled the selling of the facility to allow time for interested parties to submit proposals and business plans to the city. Both groups provided their proposals by the July 30 deadline and will have the chance to speak at the city council meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 8 at .

The nearly 11,000 square-foot former fire station was built in 1955 and sits on the corner of Second and Scott Streets. It has also housed the public works department in addition to the fire department.

An appraisal of the building completed in the fall of 2011 put the building's estimated value at $580,000.

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