The groundbreaking for the new University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview will take place at noon Wednesday on the Riverside campus.

Children’s services have been spread across the East and West Banks, and this new building will consolidate those treatments, Fairview spokeswoman Jennifer Amundson said .

While the number of beds will not change with the addition of the new structure, the space was definitely needed, Amundson said.

Kraus-Anderson will be handling the construction of the 185,000 square-foot structure that will open in 2011.