Highway Patrol Breaks Ground on New $3.5 Million Building

The first symbolic shovels first turned Monday on a late night idea that will be a big boost for the Whiteville Highway Patrol headquarters.

Rep. Brenden Jones said the new $3.5 million headquarters for Troop B District 5 has been badly needed. He said it was late at night after a long session of the General Assembly when he realized that the old HP headquarters on Chadbourn Highway needed replacement.

“I contacted Sen. (Bill) Rabon to get his support,” Jones said Monday at the groundbreaking, then added jokingly that “and of course we had to help the troopers in Brunswick county out as well.” Rabon is a native of Fair Bluff, but lives in Southport and represents both Columbus and Brunswick counties.

Jones, the Majority Leader for the House of Representatives, said it was a “long battle” to find the state funds for the new Highway Patrol station. See Jones’ full remarks here:

https://youtu.be/MHzNrT0ZPX8?si=4HLtJc7-aZNbD-3p

Among those helping start the construction process Monday was Rhonda Turner, the longtime administrative services specialist at the Highway Patrol office. For years, she has helped citizens in need of wreck reports or other services from a converted hallway that opens into the waiting room of the driver’s license office.

The new building is being constructed behind the current Highway Patrol headquarters at the corner of Chadbourn Highway and Legion Drive in Whiteville.