SHREWSBURY, Mass. - State and town officials were on hand Friday morning in Shrewsbury as ground was broken on a new state-of-the-art police station.

The new station to be built on the the Shrewsbury Municipal Campus on Maple Avenue will replace the existing station which was constructed in 1971. The new station will contain modern dispatch and radio system as well as enhanced training and community meeting space.

Police Chief Kevin Anderson says 21st century policing was the aim when the new station was designed. 

"The community is the foundation of this new building. Once completed, the facility will include spaces for the public to use, and allow for better interaction with the public and enhance the department's community policing philosophy and the department's vision," Chief Anderson said at Friday's groundbreaking. "And that's to be engaged with the community, to produce public safety that reduces crime and improves quality of life​."

The new station will also include two memorials: one to remember the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and another to honor Shrewsbury officer James Lonchiadis, who was killed in the line of duty on March 5, 1975.

The station is scheduled to be completed in late fall 2022.​