HAMPTON | It's a great thing, says Hampton Police Chief Bill Wrenn. "We're finally going to occupy a beautiful, clean facility as opposed to the dump we have now."

After years of waiting, it's time for the town's police force to move into a brand new facility, three times the size of the current building.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the new site on Monday night.

"The ceremony was excellent, we had a nice crowd," Wrenn said.

Wrenn said he expects the new facility will be fully operation by Monday.

"We're in the process of moving in and getting the phones up and running," he said.

The building has been a long time coming. Voters first approved the project in March 2000, but a lawsuit in Exeter held up bonded building projects in the state for several years.

"We've been working for many years on it," Wrenn said. "The sole process of building started back about 1998 and it's taken several years and several designs and delays. But we finally have a finished product."

Asked if he was excited about the new facility, Hampton Town Manager James Barrington said "Absolutely."

"They've been making good progress on it," he said. "The furniture is going in this week."

Groundbreaking for the $6 million facility took place in June 2003.

The police department documented each phase of the construction process on its Web site.