Lehighton Area School District will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. Thursday as it begins construction of a $6.3 million multipurpose athletic stadium.

The ceremony will be held at the site of the project, 1000 Union St., between the district's administration office and Lehighton High School.On Monday night, Lehighton borough approved the stadium improvements plan.In February, council tabled conditional approval of the stadium improvements project until all the conditions listed on the borough engineer's letter recommended by the borough planning commission on Dec. 10 were met.In September, members of the Carbon County Planning Commission voted to recommend conditional plan rejection for the plan.The school district has been working with Lehighton Borough, UGI, and the borough sewer and water authorities to meet all necessary requirements for the project.CMG of Easton received the general construction contract for the work, which includes installation of an artificial turf field which will eventually be used by the district's football, soccer, field hockey and track and field teams, as well as possibly booster club teams.When construction is completed later this year, the track, which is currently closed, will reopen to the public.Other parts of the project include a visitor and home grandstand, press box, 62-foot by 260-foot field house, 42-foot by 74-foot restroom/maintenance building, a 119-vehicle paved parking lot and a 100-vehicle grass overflow lot, and a new lighting system.Terry Ahner contributed to this report.