University of Waterloo breaks ground on new applied health sciences facility

Ground was broken on the University of Waterloo's new health sciences building on Friday, Dec. 12, 2014. (Brian Dunseith / CTV Kitchener)

Fifty-six thousand more square feet of education space are coming to the University of Waterloo.

The school broke ground Friday on a new building for its applied health sciences program.

“Producing world-class research and providing exceptional training remains a top priority, and our new facilities will help support those initiatives,” interim applied health sciences dean James Rush said in a news release.

The applied health sciences program has grown significantly since its 1966 introduction, Rush said, and this marks the first physical expansion of the program.

The new building will feature labs for kinesiology research and testing, a 350-seat lecture theatre and Waterloo’s anatomy school.

Currently, the school’s faculty of applied health sciences contains more than 2,700 students, as well as 183 staff and faculty members.

The new facility is expected to be complete by spring 2016.