KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The building currently housing the Tennessee Highway Patrol-Knoxville headquarters was built along Kingston Pike in 1965 and after decades of Troopers and staff working out of the location, they will soon move to a larger, newer facility in Strawberry Plains.

THP Knoxville Captain Stacey Heatherly, who was promoted in November, said Wednesday the move to the new headquarters at 1755 Neals Commerce Lane will likely happen at the end of January. Heatherly also said the move spelled a great, exciting time for THP.

An open house of the new headquarters is in the works and the facility will boast office areas for many THP members and an additional area for legal staff, according to Heatherly. This move will allow for THP personnel to include an impound evidence area and helicopter pad for its aviation unit.

“We are anxious and ready to be in this new headquarters where we can continue to provide the best services of excellence to the citizens of Tennessee,” she said.

THP Knoxville’s new headquarters complex will also be located next to a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) field office. For now, staff members are packing up the old headquarters to get ready to move in the new year.