Doctors and cancer patients at Hershey Medical Center will soon have a new option for research and treatment, partly because of a $10 million donation from the state.

Gary Schultz, senior vice president for finance and business, officially announced the plan to construct a Penn State Cancer Institute at Friday's Board of Trustees meeting.

In an e-mail message, Hershey Medical Center spokesman Tom Landry said the new center will be located at the east end of the Hershey Medical Center, near the emergency department.

"The building will be developed as part of a new clinical quadrangle made up of the Cancer Institute and proposed [Penn State] Children's Hospital buildings," he said.

He could not give a date as to when construction on the project will begin.

Sheliah Borne, director of governmental affairs at Hershey Medical Center, said the new facility will be both clinical- and research-oriented.

"There will be space available for patient treatment as well as for cancer research," she said.

In addition to the $10 million contribution from Gov. Ed Rendell, Borne said the medical center is also looking to garner additional state and federal funds for completion of the project.

Landry said the total cost of the project is estimated to be $93.6 million, and other funds have already been raised.

"This state funding compliments $13 million in federal funds secured by [U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, D-Pa.,] over the past two years," he said. "Hopefully, these funds can serve as a catalyst to secure additional funding, since this funding represents only a fraction of the total cost of the Cancer Institute building."

In addition to the Cancer Institute building, Landry said a parking garage is also included in the project's plans.

He said the project is currently in its planning stages and is being designed by Payette Associates of Boston and Array Healthcare Facilities Solutions of King of Prussia.

The new cancer institute in Hershey is a separate project from the one started by the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (Thon).

Thon overall chairs announced in April that they were giving $10 million for construction of a Pediatric Cancer Pavilion at the Penn State Children's Hospital in Hershey.

Thon public relations chair Carrie Konosky said Thon has pledged to commit the money to the project over the next six years, and upon completion, it will be used by Four Diamonds families.

Borne said although the projects are technically separate, they are still closely related because they both involve cancer research and treatment.