Construction of the new University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program building started earlier this month.

According to Iowa Now, the two-story, 3,500 square foot building will sit on the southeast corner of North Clinton and Church Street, across from the President’s Residence.

The university’s Nonfiction Writing Program will be housed in the new building, moving from the English-Philosophy Building. It will “include offices for faculty, workspaces for graduate teaching assistants, seminar classrooms, and an open library/lounge space that will open to an outdoor patio.”

The building on North Clinton Street will sit adjacent to the UI Iowa Writers Workshop and International Writing Program buildings, an area often termed ‘the writers’ neighborhood.’

The UI Nonfiction Writing Program is a three-year graduate-level program in the Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The building was originally planned for construction in May 2008, before Iowa City experienced widespread flooding, the article said.

Plans resumed in 2018, when John D’Agata, then-director of the program, partnered with the UI Center for Advancement to attract more donors to the project.

The building is funded 100 percent by donors and is planned to open at the end of 2022.