WASHINGTON (AP) — George Washington University is preparing to begin building a new museum on its campus in Washington's Foggy Bottom neighborhood.

A groundbreaking Thursday will mark the start of work on the new 35,000-square-foot George Washington University Museum.

It will serve as a new home for Washington's 87-year-old Textile Museum, as well as for an extensive collection on the history of the nation's capital. Real estate developer Albert H. Small of Bethesda, Md., donated his collection of historical maps, drawings, books, letters and documents to the school last year.

The museum will also house the university's fine art collection.

The university also is breaking ground on a 20,000-square-foot conservation and collections resource center on its Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Loudoun County.