Construction for the Dickinson School of Law began this morning at 10 a.m. with a groundbreaking ceremony along Bigler Road, north of Park Avenue.

The construction, costing $110 million, will create a two-campus law school at University Park and Carlisle.

Approved in September by the Board of Trustees, the three-story building will include a glass-enclosed library and reading room, study areas, an area for pro bono legal services, an auditorium, and a courtroom.

Law students are expected to occupy the new facility as early as January 2009.

Heading the groundbreaking ceremony were Penn State president Graham Spanier, Cynthia Baldwin, chair of the Board of Trustees, Philip J. McConnaughay, dean of the Dickinson School of Law, and Pedro Cortes, secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Also included in the project will be the renovation of Trickett Hall in Carlisle, the center of Dickinson School of Law activity since 1918.

A groundbreaking at the Carlisle site, which is being funded by $50 million from anonymous donations, is expected to take place in late spring or early summer.