USC breaks ground on $650 million village it says will transform campus and local neighborhood

LOS ANGELES – The University of Southern California has brought out the Trojan Marching Band to beat the drum for a $650 million expansion that school officials say will transform both the Los Angeles campus and the surrounding neighborhood.

The band played at Monday's official groundbreaking for USC Village.

When completed in 2017, officials say the 15-acre village will contain on-campus housing for 2,700 students and numerous other amenities.

Those other amenities include a grocery store, fitness center, salons, boutiques, restaurants and other facilities open to students and the public. There will also be walkways and plazas and other campus facilities.

They are all going on a site that was once was an aging shopping center adjacent to campus.

Officials say the project is the most ambitious expansion in USC's 134-year history.