ZACHARY - The Zachary Police Department announced a groundbreaking for a new police station slated to be finished by the end of 2024. 

The ZPD has shared space with the Zachary City Court for over 35 years. The department announced Tuesday that both agencies have "outgrown" their current arrangement and that some officers have even had to relocate due to space issues. 

“Over the past 34 years, I have witnessed and been a part of the growth of the Zachary Police Department," said Zachary Police Chief Darryl Lawrence. "We have outgrown our current office and are grateful to be moving forward with the construction of a new state-of-the-art facility."

For the last three decades, both police and city court have shared the building on Main Street, forcing some officers to relocate because of inadequate spacing.

Chief Lawrence says the department has grown tremendously since he began working there in the 1980s, moving from two officers per shift now to five. He says this building will be beneficial to the team and keep all their training within the new facility.

"This new building is going to be big enough to where we can bring our whole department back under one roof," the chief said. "We'll also have areas where we can hold training classes and also host classes. We've been having to send people off to different areas to train so, we can host some of those classes here now, therefore saving us some money. We also have a workout facility where my guys can actually go and get a good workout in and stay in shape, an officer wellness thing going on, so we're trying to do that."

The new facility will be built at 5160 Old Slaughter Road. It will be an 8-million-dollar facility on 21 acres.