Officials today will break ground adjacent to Indiana University of Pennsylvania on the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, a $40 million to $60 million development with a 4,000-seat arena that has advanced despite the troubled economy.

Officials have touted the work, which includes a six-story hotel, as an economic catalyst both to the Indiana, Pa., area and surrounding county. The complex will house community and campus events, with space devoted to athletic department administrative offices, conference facilities and the John P. Murtha Institute for Homeland Security.

Campus sports such as basketball games will be played in what IUP officials have said will be the area's largest venue.

The IUP Foundation is funding the $20 million hotel portion of the project. The state and IUP are splitting the remaining $40 million cost, and any overruns will be funded by either private donations or additional government aid secured by the university, IUP spokeswoman Michelle Fryling said.

The project is expected to be completed in 2011, despite economic woes that have prompted a number of schools to take a second look at major building plans.

"We've done a significant amount of planning and received community input to develop this complex to best suit the needs of this university, this community and this region," Ms. Fryling said yesterday.

University President Tony Atwater "is steadfast in his resolve that the integrity and the character of this facility will not be compromised and the building will move forward in its original plan," she said.

At today's 10 a.m. ceremony at the project site along Wayne Avenue, IUP will honor donor Chad Hurley, a 1999 IUP graduate and one of the founders of YouTube. He is expected to make a seven-figure donation.

In July, officials said they wanted to place a hotel adjacent to IUP using The Horizon Team, a Canonsburg venture representing Horizon Properties Group LLC and Summit Development Consulting Corp. They will be involved in planning the hotel that will occupy three of the 33 acres in the complex.

The complex is named for the Kovalchick family, of Indiana, that gave $2 million for the project.