The Lied Center for Performing Arts will celebrate the start of its expansion project at a groundbreaking event on April 29 at 4:30 p.m.

The planned 8,100-square-foot Lied Commons addition is entirely privately funded and made possible with a $2.5 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation from Christina M. Hixson of Las Vegas and the Lied Foundation Trust.

Event speakers include Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson, NU President James B. Milliken, UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman, and UNMC Chancellor Hal Maurer.

The addition, designed by BVH Architects of Lincoln, will be constructed on the north side of the Lied Center and is the first expansion ever to the 20-year-old venue. With a separate northeast entrance, the addition will provide event space for cultural programs, education events, smaller performances and private receptions, even while events are held in the Lied Center’s main house.

Executive Director Bill Stephan said the new addition is especially needed because the Lied Center has continued to increase its activities and services over the years. “We’re incredibly thankful for this gift and expansion opportunity,” he said. “The new space will enable us to better serve the university, our many rental clients, and most importantly, Nebraskans.”

The Lied Center for Performing Arts is a state-of-the-art performing arts facility. The Lied Center, opened in 1990, is Nebraska’s “Home for the Arts.” The facility offers major regional, national and international events designed to attract, entertain and inspire a statewide audience.

The University of Nebraska Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization that has connected the dreams and passions of donors to the mission of the university for the past 75 years. In 2010, donors designated more than $136 million in gifts to scholarships, academic programs, medical research and other priorities at the university. The foundation’s current $1.2 billion fundraising initiative, the Campaign for Nebraska: Unlimited Possibilities, concludes in 2014. For more information, visit nufoundation.org.