Kansas State University will break ground Friday ( Sept. 4 ) on a $75 million revitalization and expansion of Seaton Hall. The 100-year old building is home to the College of Architecture, Planning & Design, or AP Design.

The public is invited to attend the ceremony at 11 a.m. on the east side of Seaton Hall.

Sixty million dollars in state bonds and $15 million in private gifts and student fees will fund the 194,000-square foot project. Kansas legislators approved funding in June and the project will be done by the start of fall classes in 2017.

“This is a superb opportunity for us to show the potential of design and planning in transforming a historic building into an environmentally sensitive and technically innovative 21-st century academic teaching and learning environment, said tim de Noble, dean of APDesign.

The Regnier family’s V+H Charitable Foundation made the lead gift of $4 million to the project.

The newly renovated and expanded Seaton Complex is expected to offer a more effective setting for collaborative sudy and applied research, with improved security and technology.