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$67 million distribution center and regional headquarters opens in Chattanooga

By Alex Green February 28, 2016 7 min read

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Distribution complex opens in the hometown of Coca-Cola bottling

The lobby of the new Coca-Cola Bottling Company United divisional headquarters on Sheperd Road is seen Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The $67 million facility is at the site of the old Olan Mills campus.

Portraits of Crawford T. Johnson the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, from left, hang in a board room in the new Coca-Cola Bottling Company United divisional headquarters on Sheperd Road on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The $67 million facility is at the site of the old Olan Mills campus.

Old Coca-Cola vending machines flank new machines in the new Coca-Cola Bottling Company United divisional headquarters on Sheperd Road on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The $67 million facility is at the site of the old Olan Mills campus.

Coca-Cola themed artwork and memorabilia line the walls of the new Coca-Cola Bottling Company United divisional headquarters on Sheperd Road on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The $67 million facility is at the site of the old Olan Mills campus.

Tennessee Valley division director Darren Hodges, left, talks with print zone manager Jonathan Gomez in their in-house printing center at the new Coca-Cola Bottling Company United divisional headquarters on Sheperd Road on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The $67 million facility is at the site of the old Olan Mills campus.

Tarus Earls moves crates of beverages for distribution at the new Coca-Cola Bottling Company United divisional headquarters on Sheperd Road on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The $67 million facility is at the site of the old Olan Mills campus.

Beverages are stacked on pallets for sorting and distribution at the new Coca-Cola Bottling Company United divisional headquarters on Sheperd Road on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The $67 million facility is at the site of the old Olan Mills campus.

The conveyor system for sorting and distributing beverages is seen at the new Coca-Cola Bottling Company United divisional headquarters on Sheperd Road on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The $67 million facility is at the site of the old Olan Mills campus.

Vending machines are stored at the new Coca-Cola Bottling Company United divisional headquarters on Sheperd Road on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The $67 million facility is at the site of the old Olan Mills campus.

The main entrance of the new Coca-Cola Bottling Company United divisional headquarters on Sheperd Road is seen Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The $67 million facility is at the site of the old Olan Mills campus.

Here in Chattanooga, Coke has roots.

They’re deep roots, the type which give pause to talk of uprooting a facility here and moving it across state lines. A 117-year history with a town will do that.

And, it did do that.

On Tuesday, a brand-new, $67 million Coca-Cola Bottling Company United distribution center and regional headquarters will host its grand opening at 2111 W. Shepherd Road. The opening of the 305,000-square-foot facility will mark the completion of a

years-long process

to upgrade Coke United’s Chattanooga facilities, moving regional distribution and local sales out of the Amnicola Highway facility and into these new digs, complete with a glistening wall of windows and glass doors at its entrance, and a huge, classic Spencerian Coca-Cola logo facing Highway 153.