LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — The University of Kentucky is celebrating the groundbreaking of what it calls a future prominent campus landmark.

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held today for a new UK Health Education Building located at the intersection of Huguelet Drive and University Drive.

Eclipsing 5,000 square feet, the building will house programs in several colleges, including medicine, public health, and nursing.

Upon its completion, the new building will be the largest academic building in UK’s history.

“This building is a game changer for the commonwealth of Kentucky here. We’re opening this building that’s going to house not only medical students and my college of medicine. It’s going to house nursing students, health science students, and public health students,” said Chipper Griffith, dean of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. “We have such health care needs in the commonwealth that was magnified by the COVID epidemic and just gotten worse and worse. We have many folks who need our care, this is going to allow us to train more doctors, more nurses, more health practitioners, more public health providers.”

The new building is set to open in 2026.