KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Monday, the new Knoxville Public Safety Complex began welcoming the public. The roughly $70 million investment is the new home of the Knoxville Police Department, Fire Department, E-911 Backup, Pension Board and Municipal Court.
"It's still a work in progress," said municipal court Judge John Rosson. "There's some more stuff to be done behind the scenes if you will, but we're open to the public."
He held municipal court for the first time in the new building Monday morning.
"It's very modern looking. It has a lot of upgrades from the old courthouse," he said. "We have a nice big screen television over here where the public can view police stops, where people get pulled over."
Municipal Court handles things like speeding tickets, animal cases, parking tickets, codes enforcement and underage drinking citations.
Court administrator Valerie Coleman said the new facility will hopefully help them work through those more efficiently.
"It is wonderful. We've got so much more room," she said. "We have everything we need to serve the public."
On Sunday, the Knoxville Police Department tweeted that its old building is now closed to the public.
"As the move into the new Public Safety Complex in North Knoxville enters the final stages, effective this Monday, June 12 at 8 a.m., all public services should be accessed at the new building. That includes Records, Teleserve, Hit-and-Run and City Court," the department said. "While a small number of operations are temporarily continuing at the former Public Safety Complex on Howard Baker Jr. Avenue, public services are no longer accessible there and that building is now closed to the public."
Parts of the complex are still under construction. The city, county and McNabb Center are partnering to convert the 25,000-square-foot former St. Mary's Ambulatory Surgery Center into an urgent care and behavioral health facility.
Lincoln Memorial University opened its nursing school in one of the newly renovated towers. The city said a tree-lined LMU-funded quadrangle is also planned for the site.