LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – This time next year there will be a new addition to the Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Arkansas School for the Deaf in Little Rock.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday for a new health services building that will serve both schools.

The 10,000-square-foot facility will provide audiology and optometry services, along with general wellness and other services for students.

It will also feature wider hallways and textured floors to meet the needs of the students.

The building is an addition that Gov. Hutchinson says has been a long time coming.

“I’m delighted that this will be the first major construction project since the 1970s,” Hutchinson said. “Which is actually embarrassing that it’s been that long, but we are doing it now we are moving forward with it.”

The more than $30 million project was approved by the Arkansas Legislative Committee and will come from the state’s restricted reserve fund.