University of Rhode Island begins work on $125 million engineering complex

The University of Rhode Island is holding a ceremonial groundbreaking for a $125 million engineering complex on the Kingston campus.

The university says the 190,000-square-foot facility is the largest construction project in the school's history.

The building has been designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. The space will evolve to meet the technology-driven changes in all segments of engineering.

Funding for construction comes from a bond issue that Rhode Island voters approved in 2014.

To accommodate the new facility, the university plans to demolish several buildings—Crawford, Gilbreth, Kelley, Kelley Annex, and Wales Halls, all of which opened in the late 1950s and early 1960s.