What is next for Scott County’s regional training facility?
The Scott County Association of Leadership and Efficiency regional training facility — more commonly known as SCALE RTF or just the RTF — is the main place where fire and police departments throughout the county can train. The facility was opened in stages between 2004 and 2007 and since then the “guiding vision for the facility appears to have fallen by the wayside,” according to a report commissioned by the county and published in January.
The report recommends that the county start the process of updating the facility and the planning process of building a new one.
Current facility
The RTF facility is located between Jordan and Shakopee off of Highway 169, bordering on the Minnesota River bottoms.
The facility was the Mudbaden Sulphur Springs Company Spa, which in the early 20th century was a health spa centered on the sulfur-rich mud located there. The current building was built by the spa in 1915. After the spa closed in the 1950s, it became a seminary for a short time before being sold again and becoming an in-patient facility for chemical dependency in the 1970s.
After being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, Scott County bought the facility in 1985 and turned it into a minimum security prison. It was converted to its current use in the 2000s as a training facility.
Since 2007, major renovations and updates have not happened. The MILO training system, a use-of-force training simulator, is outdated, as is the audio and visual equipment in the meeting rooms. The building is also much bigger than is required for a training facility and the historical designation and many uses over the years have made it an inflexible space.
A unique facility
Compared to other training facilities in the Twin Cities, the RTF is unique.
It’s the only one in a historic building and the only one that wasn’t built to be a training facility. It’s also among the biggest, space-wise, at over 51,000 square feet spread over three floors, but that space isn’t all necessarily usable for training purposes. The RTF also has the poorest financial outlook.
If the county continues as it has been with the RTF, at least $100,000 in maintenance and repairs needs to be completed, which isn’t currently in the budget. Additionally, the facility carries a lot of debt that members and the county owe on it and with the flat profit rate, and rising inflation, the facility is projected to start losing the county money starting in 2025.
The other facilities in the metro also have more public availability and events than the RTF does. Many of the other metro area training facilities have public hours for their shooting ranges and other training facilities. Currently, the RTF does not offer a similar option to the general public.
Three options
The report laid out three options for the future of the facility. Option one was keeping the status quo — keep doing what is currently happening without any adjustments. Option two was updating the facility to meet needs and do the major maintenance projects that have been deferred. Option three is maintaining the facility, but with fewer partners.
As it stands, the current facility can meet the training needs of the county for at least the next 10 to 15 years. However, the report recommended that the county looks at the creation of a new, purpose-built facility.
“That being said, it is not likely that the existing facility will be able to continue to meet the rapidly changing needs of public safety training in the long term,” the report concluded. “Despite the need for long deferred maintenance, there is currently a strong need within Scott County for the continued operation of the facility.”
What is the plan?
In the last two SCALE RTF board meetings, and in discussions throughout county members, the next steps for the facility are up in the air. Most agree that something needs to be done, but how and when is the subject of contention.
Most don’t want to go back to not having a facility to use if the RTF were to close, but other metro area training facilities are either much further away or can’t absorb the training needs of Scott County.
Carver County, which wasn’t a part of the facility originally but later joined, is leaving at the end of the year, leaving only Scott County members as the main users. The facility, given its age and lack of updates, isn’t attractive for outside organizations that use facilities like this for training.
SCALE RTF members have also discussed a potential option four — maintaining the current facility while planning a new one. A key issue that many have with the current facility, besides the outstanding technology and lack of maintenance, is the location.
The Savage Fire Department, for instance, uses Burnsville’s burn tower for training because the RTF is too far away. Elko New Market, which is on the opposite side of the county from the facility, doesn’t use it to its full potential. Most agencies of Scott County, if they use the facility, use the gun range for their police training and if they’re closer, the fire training facilities.
There’s also the threat of members leaving the partnership, saddling others with the debt payments. The Shakopee representative said that if the decision is to build a new building, then they would leave as they are OK continuing on as is. Carver County has already left because it wasn’t cost-effective for them.
They all agreed that the facility, especially the gun range, is needed right now. And while they directed staff to research a potential option 4, how, when, and where that may look is still up for debate.