This week St. Louis University Hospital will break ground on a new center to treat complex cancers, and it will be the first major construction project to take place on the hospital's campus since 1985.

The new 9,000-square-foot building is expected to be complete by August, and will be the new home of radiation oncology. The new structure will be the located near Vista Avenue and South Spring Avenue.

The last major project on the hospital's campus began in 1985 with the construction of the $39 million patient tower that is directly behind, and connected to, the original structure, Firmin Desloge Hospital.

This new freestanding building will be separate from the $500 million commitment the hospital's new owner, SSM Health made to build an entirely new hospital and outpatient center by 2020.

SSM Health is still deciding the fate of the current 365-bed hospital.

"It's exciting to have this project as the first physical part of the hospital's future," Dr. John Dombrowski, chief of radiation oncology, said in a statement provided to the Post-Dispatch.