Ground has been broken for a new student wellness center on the University of South Dakota campus.

The 61,000-square-foot facility will cost about $15 million. It is to open in January 2011.

USD Athletics Director Joel Nielsen says the building will have state-of-the-art workout equipment, a multistory climbing wall and a multipurpose activity court, along with courts for basketball, volleyball and racquetball.  He says the center will "transform the way our students, staff, faculty and community view fitness." 

Students are paying for most of the center's cost through an increase in tuition. The city of Vermillion and the university also have entered into an agreement that calls for the city to contribute $340,000 over five years beginning in the fall of 2010.