COEUR d'ALENE - After more than two decades as a concept, construction is officially beginning on the development of an education corridor in downtown Coeur d'Alene.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday on the site which lies between North Idaho College and the city of Coeur d'Alene's wastewater treatment plant.

North Idaho College board chair Mic Armon told the crowd it was a "glorious day" to have the acquisition of the 17-acre parcel complete and positioned to begin turning raw dirt into an infrastructure.

"The board stepped up when it wasn't easy to buy this, but it was a vision we had," Armon said.

When the opportunity arose to purchase the land, Armon said the college needed to take advantage of it.

Moving the plan to fruition, Armon said, took the cooperation and work of all the partners in the project - NIC, Lewis-Clark State College, University of Idaho, the Fort Grounds Homeowners Association, the city and Lake City Development Corp.

The partners have all been working toward one goal, he said: "To create future education opportunities for children and residents of this community."

Development of the roads on the property should begin next week, and is expected to be completed before NIC's fall semester begins.

Other infrastructure work will continue into the fall and next year.