The Grapevine Police Department will host an open house Oct. 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 307 W. Dallas Road, Grapevine.

The annual event will feature displays, facility tours, free food as well as provide insight on the new Public Safety Building, which is expected to be complete by spring 2017.

When it is finished the building will bring the police and fire department administrations into a single location—they are currently situated about 1.5 miles from one another. The municipal court and the logistics and information technology department will all also be housed in the multilevel facility.

Mona Burk, who oversees marketing and communications at the city manager’s office, said the new building will be much different from the current facility.

“Have you ever seen [the old building]? It’s worlds apart from what they’re going to be moving into,” Burk said.

The current police and court building originally served as commercial office space before being purchased by the city in the 1970s.

A study ordered by City Council in 2011 found several deficiencies in the current building, as reported in a previous article by Community Impact Newspaper. Issues cited included a lack of handicap accessibility, limited room for storage and other problems pertaining to space.

Burk said the new center will better fit the needs of Grapevine’s current population of 50,000 people. When the fire department’s administration building opened 24 years ago, the population stood closer to 29,000.

Additional upgrades to technology will help first responders as they serve local residents.

“Everything will be state-of-the-art,” Burk said.

The facility is being built on a vacant stretch of land on Ira E. Woods Avenue between Target and Grapevine Medical Park. Work is still in early stages, with ground being overturned and a crane standing over the area in October.

Grapevine voters approved the Public Safety Building as part of a $68 million bond package in November 2012.