The new building of the Penza Spiritual Seminary was erected on the territory of the estate of the famous philanthropist Maria Mikhailovna Kiseleva. Before her death, she bequeathed to sell the estate with the condition of building a church on its territory. In 1889, the spiritual department acquired the estate covering an area of 5 desyatins and 830 square fathoms for the placement of the seminary. Construction began on May 17, 1894, based on the project by architect V. Yelkashov from the Economic Administration of the Holy Synod. The works were supervised by engineer-architect A. G. Starzhinsky, head of the Penza provincial construction department. This was the first case where buildings for spiritual educational institutions were constructed with state funds under the supervision of a specially appointed committee. Usually, such projects were implemented through trade contracts, but in Penza, there were no volunteers willing to take on this large-scale construction.

The work began on May 12, 1894, and on September 12, 1899, the building was recognized as ready for operation. On September 23, 1899, the church in honor of St. Innocent, the Irkutsk Miracle Worker, and the entire seminary building were consecrated. The ceremony was conducted by Bishop Pavel with the assistance of eight protodeacons. Up to 30 protodeacons and priests attended the prayer service marking the start of classes in the new building, after which a ceremonial act took place. The church featured an iconostasis made by local master A. D. Davydov based on a design by artist M. Ivanov. The icons, which were copies from the icons of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv, were painted by artist N. K. Grandkovsky, while the altar icon of the Resurrection of Christ was created by Moscow artist N. P. Bogdanov. The seminary functioned here until 1918.

Among its graduates were the People's Artist of the RSFSR, director I. Ya. Sudakov, Doctor of Philology B. K. Pashkov, Doctor of Veterinary Sciences I. A. Gusinin, and artist M. M. Beringov. After the revolution, the building housed a party school (1922, 1936), then a regional newspaper school, and later the management of the Penza Railway.

In 1943, an industrial institute opened here, which was graduated in 1955 by Hero of the Soviet Union, cosmonaut pilot V. I. Patzaev. In 1958, the institute was transformed into a polytechnic, and in 1993 it received the status of a technical university, which on January 25, 1998, became Penza State University.