KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Nearly three years after work on the Knoxville Public Safety Complex first began, emergency service providers and city departments will soon begin moving into the 200,000-square-foot campus.

The complex at the former site of St. Mary’s Hospital near Fulton High School will house the Knoxville Police Department, Knoxville Fire Department, E911 backup system, Pension System offices and City Court operations.

A late January move-in date is planned for Knoxville Fire Chief Stan Sharp and his administrative staff, becoming the first tenants of the new complex. A city release said a complete move-in will take place over a three-month period with all departments to be relocated by the end of spring.

“We’re happy and honored to be the first to move in,” said Sharp, whose administrative staff is currently scattered over several locations, including rented space in the CityScape office park off East Hill Avenue. “It will be helpful and more efficient to have so many of KFD’s administrative staff operating out of the same location.

“But there also is going to be a huge benefit in having multiple emergency service providers together in the same complex.”

City court staff will be the next to relocate with court staff expected to be in their new offices by early February. The transition of the police department, the largest group of employees, will span February and March.

The police department’s current headquarters on Howard Baker Jr. Avenue is set to be demolished following the transition. According to the city, the site will soon house a, “$100 million state-of-the-art world-class educational science and discovery center, the Knoxville Science Museum.” The museum will be built and operated by the Clayton Family Foundation.

Demolition at the site began in February 2020. The total cost of the project totaled around $70 million, almost double what was originally projected.