Ground was broken Tuesday for the $4.5 million Nansemond River Medical Center, to be located on Route 10 next to Obici Hospital.

City officials, including Mayor E. Dana Dickens III, Vice Mayor Leroy Bennett and Economic Development Director Tom O’Grady joined doctors from Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center in celebrating the beginning of construction on the 32,000-square foot facility.

A.J. Distasio, M.D., of Chesapeake-based Sports Medicine Orthopedic Center, said construction had been more than six years in the making.

Distasio thanked Lakeview Medical Center and Trenton Bishop of Physical Therapy Works for their support and encouraging Sports Medicine to expand their practice in Suffolk.

&uot;People don’t drive by Obici anymore to seek care elsewhere and that’s a big plus to us,&uot; Distasio said.

Sports Medicine will occupy the building when it is completed in March and space will be rented to ancillary businesses.

&uot;The Route 10 Corridor is growing quickly,&uot; O’Grady said.

&uot;A three-story office building is exactly the type of office that will lease up quickly.&uot;

Remarks at the ceremony were brief because of the searing heat, but Dickens noted, &uot;Every time we see an opportunity to see those shovels laid out it’s a good day for all of Suffolk.&uot;