Groundbreaking Ceremony for OHSU Collaborative Science Building

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Oregon University System/OHSU Collaborative Life Sciences Building took place in the South Waterfront this morning. 

 The new building will be a collaboration involving OHSU, PSU and OSU, promoting partnerships between the schools, and housing programs from each university, including new School of Dentistry facilities. (You can find a little bit more via coverage from the Portland Tribune , Oregonian & BizJournal earlier this week.)

We are headed to that white tent below:

 It was a packed crowd, overflowing the tent.

The event kicked off with an appearance and speech by Governer Kitzhaber, highlighting the purpose and hope for this project: Innovation - Partnership - Philanthropy - Optimism.

We heard from med students, donors, and the presidents of all 3 universities.

Groundbreaking ceremony complete with lots of shovels, shovelers, and some very nice dirt trucked in for the occasion:

In blue, a representative of the Schnitzer Family, the donors of the waterfront land the new Schnitzer Campus will be built on.

 President Robertson takes an interview.

Model of the future complex:

Additional coverage:
http://www.pdx.edu/news/oregon-universities-create-jobs-and-educational-opportunities-new-collaborative-life-sciences
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2011/10/13/ground-broken-for-295m-teaching.html?page=all