Gov. Linda Lingle has released $23.8 million to build a new Science and Technology Building for the University of Hawai'i-Hilo.

The new facility will include classrooms, offices and laboratories for various science-related programs.

Current facilities were built in the 1950s and 1960s, and are too small to accommodate growing enrollment, according to the Lingle announcement.

The new building is the first phase of a new science and technology complex that will provide classrooms and research facilities.

Construction on the facility is expected to begin within three months, and should be completed in spring 2009.