Bay Path College is building a 56,000-square-foot Center for Graduate Studies in Health Sciences in East Longmeadow.

The two-story building, which will sit on 11 acres, is being built with $19.5 million in tax-exempt bonds the school received from MassDevelopment. A portion of the bond proceeds will also be used to refund a previous MassDevelopment bond, which funded projects at the main campus in Longmeadow. Peoples Bank, United Bank and NUVO Bank & Trust Co. purchased the bonds.

The health sciences building will be used for graduate classes in the occupational therapy and the physician assistant programs. It is the first structure Bay Path College has erected in decades as well as the largest building project in the college’s history.

"Because our campus is landlocked and fully built out, we made the decision to purchase 11 acres in East Longmeadow, about three miles from our main campus, and to establish our graduate center for health sciences there," Michael Giampietro, vice president for finance and administrative services at Bay Path College, said in statement."This project will enable the college to increase the number of students it serves while meeting the critical need to supply health care professionals for our regional workforce."