Ground has officially been broken on Pheasant Ridge Drive in Blaine for Minnesota's newest State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), the nerve center in times of crisis. This facility—where state agencies converge to assist local governments and orchestrate responses—will leave its old St. Paul station behind for this up-to-date location, according to the City of Blaine's official announcement.

The move comes after the SEOC was ceaselessly active during the COVID-19 peak, for a stretch of 479 days, aiding the Minnesota Department of Health, additionally, the center managed ten natural disasters and civil unrest, peacekeeping efforts throughout the state during that time of the pandemic, all the while the SEOC was balancing this high-wire act of handling multiple emergencies. The new 37,000-square-foot Blaine location is expected to replace the downtown fixture by 2025, with a substantial upgrade in space and capabilities.

Once open, the facility will provide daily workspace for 65 Homeland Security and Emergency Management employees, and it can accommodate 150 to 200 personnel during activations, as per the City of Blaine. This scale-up is perhaps indicative of a sobering recognition of the ever-growing demands on emergency services in contemporary times.