INDIANA COUNTY, Pa. -- Construction is now under way on a new convention and athletic complex for Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Groundbreaking for the new Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, or KCAC, took place on Thursday after on the IUP campus.

The project is expected to have a $22 million economic impact on the region and that's just through it's construction. Once the building is done in 2011, the KCAC is expected to bring in $12.5 million a year.

The KCAC will include a 5,000 seat arena, an auditorium, conference rooms, offices for the John Murtha Institute of Homeland Security and a high end attached hotel.

"This project goes hand and hand with our airport expansion because when you start bringing in a lot of people from all over the country for business meetings, conventions and concerts, a lot of them want to fly here," said local businessman and namesake of the project Joseph Kovalchick.

"The KCAC is more than just a university building," said IUP President Dr. Tony Atwater. "It really is a hub for attracting new businesses and new cultural additions to the region. It really is an economic driver."

Also honored at Thursday's event was IUP grad, Chad Hurley. He is one of the founders of YouTube. He donated a $1 million to the construction of the new complex.