University officials will break ground on a new $34 million health sciences building.

The ceremony will be held at the site of the new 72,000-square-foot Center for Health Sciences and Active Learning, located near the former Harrison Hall on Indianapolis Avenue between Second and Chestnut streets.

Events will begin at 12:30 p.m. and feature a handful of speakers, including VU President Dr. Chuck Johnson; Mike Sievers, chair of the VU Board of Trustees; and Good Samaritan CEO Rob McLin, among others.

The public is invited to attend.

The center promises a state-of-the-art facility with the newest technology where students can “cultivate skills and knowledge amidst dynamic learning environments,” according to a press release from the university.

The Center for Health Sciences and Active Learning will be home to the university’s nursing and physical therapy assistant programs as well as health information management, surgical technology, funeral service education, and pharmacy technology, among others.

Classrooms will feature the latest in health technology and simulation labs that offer “real world healthcare scenarios for a realistic educational experience.”

Johnson in August, during a meeting of the university’s finance committee, announced the construction of the new health sciences building, the single largest building project in the history of the university.

“It will be highly visible, right in the middle of campus,” campus architect Andrew Young said during the same meeting. “So it will take on the aesthetic of some of the newer buildings in the center — or core — of campus but still with its own character.

“It’s going to be a completely different and modernized building,” he said.

The facility, too, will nearly double the space currently available to students in the College of Health Sciences and Human Performance Center.