UK’s new $18.6 million engineering research facility represents the start of a “high-tech business corridor between Lexington and the University of Kentucky,” said President Lee Todd.

Todd made this comment during a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for the Davis Marksbury Building, which represents the second of four phases in developing UK’s ‘Digital Village.’

Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry said he was excited the new research facility is close to the downtown area.

“(The building) is a step toward UK reaching its top-20 status as a research institution,” Newberry said.

The new research facility will house the UK Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Computer Science.

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