Local dignitaries joined Trinity Western University president Jonathan Raymond in a groundbreaking ceremony as construction begins on the new multi-million dollar campus in the heart of downtown Richmond.

Scheduled to open in the fall of 2014, the 22,000-square-foot facility will sit alongside a new community centre for the fast-growing heart of Richmond Centre.

"We're here to celebrate a vision coming into reality since 2008 when we first began to think about this opportunity," Raymond said. "This will be a premier centre of higher education for Richmond and Metro Vancouver."

The new state-of-the-art campus will be an ideal venue for both academic and business gatherings, Raymond said, with a "centre for global engagement, which will facilitate international business, education and cross-cultural initiatives."

In anticipation of the campus' opening, Trinity Western is already serving the community by providing a bachelor of leadership degree as part of its adult degree completion program.

"We're delivering courses right now, right here, right across the street."

The new campus will be funded courtesy the developers at Quintet鈥攖he multi-tower residential complex to which the new facility will be attached鈥攁long with a $4 million investment in programming and technology by Trinity Western.