SALEM (AP) — The state has broken ground on construction for a new $250 million psychiatric hospital to replace the 125-year-old Oregon State Hospital in Salem.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski told more than 100 people at the groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday the occasion was historic.

Kulongoski said it has taken years of work to improve the state mental health care system, partly because replacement of the aging facility was so long overdue.

In recent years, multiple government investigations and newspaper reports have documented severe problems at the hospital, including overcrowding, disease outbreaks, staffing shortages and security lapses.

The hospital was the site for the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’’ based on the novel by Oregon author Ken Kesey.