LEWISTON – Dirt is a good thing, Richard Pattenaude said Friday standing near a big pile.

“If you look around here, things are really good because there’s a lot of dirt,” he said.

Pattenaude, president of the University of Southern Maine, was one of the speakers at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College’s groundbreaking ceremony Friday.

The college is growing. It’s about to get its second building.

“‘Two buildings doth make a campus,'” said L-A College Dean Zark VanZandt, quoting faculty member Jan Phillips. “We are officially a campus when we have the new building.”

Site preparation for the 14,000-square foot structure has begun. The $2.5 million learning center is to be finished next April. It will connect to the existing one and spread out on what is now parking spaces.

An adjacent lot has been purchased for more parking. When the project is complete there will be more parking available, officials said.

Money for the building came from a state bond approved by Maine voters in 2003. The new building will house a learning center, or a study lab where students can get tutoring in writing, math and computer skills.

Also in the b uilding will be The Learning Works, where research and grant writing for the College for ME-Androscoggin program will happen. The Learning Works will also offer prospective students one-stop shopping to learn what kind of college opportunities exist in the area, including Andover College and Bates College, both in Lewiston, and Central Maine Community College in Auburn. In addition, the center will provide career counseling.

The second floor will eventually be classroom space, but not next year.

There was one complaint Friday.

Jim Bradley, president of the university system’s associated clerical, office, laboratory and technical staff union ACSUM, said in a statement that the union supports the expansion. But Bradley was concerned “that once again the University of Maine System has no problem finding money to pay for new buildings,” while insisting there’s no money for fair compensation to its lowest paid employees.

L-A College spokesman Roger Philippon said money for the building came from the state bond and must be spent that way.