The Michigan State University sign adorning the Secchia Center in Grand Rapids is lit for the first time May 19. Courtesy photo

College of Human Medicine Dean Marsha Rappley and MSU donor and philanthropist Peter Secchia watch the sign on the Secchia Center medical education building lit for the first time. Courtesy photo.

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — One of the people most responsible for helping Michigan State University bring its College of Human Medicine to Grand Rapids joined dozens of others May 19 to watch the first lighting of the MSU sign at the college’s new downtown home.

The Secchia Center medical education building, named after philanthropist and donor Peter Secchia, is scheduled for completion in fall 2010. Secchia joined college Dean Marsha Rappley other MSU and community leaders for the lighting event.

The seven-story, 180,000-square-foot facility will include teaching laboratories, classrooms, offices and student areas. It will be located in downtown Grand Rapids, at the base of Michigan Street hill at Division Avenue, across from the Van Andel Institute and Spectrum Health.

Click here for a live Web cam of the construction progress.

Meanwhile, students have been taking classes in Grand Rapids at a temporary location nearby.

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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.