Photo by Andrew Augustus WPRO News

WPRO News

Officials gathered Monday at the old South Street Power Plant to break ground on a new multi-million dollar nursing education facility.

The new $215 million facility will service the nursing programs of both the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College as well as provide additional offices for Brown University’s medical program.

“We’ll have facilities that will be better than anyone’s; they truly will be,” said URI President David Dooley.

The design of the new facilities will be overseen by  Spagnolo Gisness & Associates out of Boston. Spagnolo President Al Spagnolo said the construction of the South Street Landing Project will have a snow ball effect on the area.

“This will act as a catalyst for more development all along the waterfront park you’ll probably see similar types of development now because it starts to create a cluster pretty much like what has occurred in Cambridge Massachusetts,” said Spagnolo.

In total the project will comprise of three buildings and eleven developed acres of land.

Governor-elect Gina Raimondo said projects like the South Street Power Station are what’s needed to turn the state’s lagging economy around.

“Our leaders understand how urgently we have to get people back to work and that’s what this project is all about, it’s going to employ hundreds people right away to build the building and then hundreds of people to work there, it’s property taxes for the city it’s exactly what we need to be doing.”

The development received $54 million in state and federal tax credits, and a city property tax stabilization agreement.