GAINESVILLE - The building has been in the community since 1952, and today was demolition day.

The old Gainesville Police Department building has been vacant since 2010 and the new building won't be ready until a year from now in March.

Currently, services for the police department have been spread around town, but with the new building, services will once again be consolidated in one place.

It is a building many police officers in the city have a history with, but an expansion that is necessary to grow as the city grows.

Officer Ben Tobias says "it is bittersweet...I was sworn in in that building and that's where I became a Gainesville police officer, but there are new faces new people and its time for a new building we can all enjoy as a community."

The new building is being funded by taxpayers and was planned and will be built by in a collaboration by both the city and the police department.