Construction will begin soon on a new 650-seat Catholic church at the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church will replace the existing church at the site on 16th and Q streets in Lincoln.

The church says in an announcement Thursday that the new church represents a $12 million construction investment and that two-thirds of donations came from outside the city of Lincoln.

Completion of the church is expected in fall 2014.

The new church is the second phase of an expansion that included construction of the Phi Kappa Theta Catholic fraternity house. A sorority house and new Newman Center also are planned.