DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – Gov. David Paterson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Borough President Marty Markowitz, Forest City Ratner Companies CEO Bruce Ratner and other dignitaries will be on hand for the long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony of the Barclays Center arena at Atlantic Yards.

The groundbreaking will take place on Thursday at Fifth and Atlantic avenues in Brooklyn at 1:30 p.m.

While work has been ongoing at the site since last fall and with the temporary rail yard completed last December, the March 11 groundbreaking ceremony will mark the next phase of construction on the 18,000-seat arena, which will house the Nets basketball team.

According to Forest City Ratner, the Barclays Center will host more than 200 events annually, including not only Nets basketball, but also collegiate sports, concerts, family shows and much more.

The first phase of Atlantic Yards will also include three residential buildings, with construction of the first starting later this year, according to the company. Several local streets were recently closed as part of the overall Atlantic Yards plan.

Opponents of the Atlantic Yards, led by the organization Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, are planning a demonstration at a site yet to be announced in the project’s “footprint.�

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