AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Officials at Auburn University are preparing to break ground for the Brown-Kopel Engineering Student Achievement Center.

The university said in a news release that a groundbreaking ceremony will take place Thursday afternoon to celebrate the beginning of construction on the center, which will be part of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.

The construction of the center is being funded through a $30 million gift from John and Rosemary Brown, which is part of an overall $57 million gift announced in 2015.

Construction is expected to be finished by the spring of 2019 and will mark the completion of more than $60 million in new construction and renovation on the engineering campus.

The center will include laboratories, study rooms, auditoriums and a student recruitment center.