The Board of Trustees will meet this weekend to celebrate the reopening of the Walker Art Building and vote on several proposals.
According to the Secretary of the College Richard Mersereau, the art museum renovation had been considered by the College for nearly 50 years.
"It isn't a two-year patience, it's a 50-year patience," Mersereau said, referring to minutes from a 1958 Committee on Art Interests meeting that recommends "an addition to the Walker Art Building be placed in the brochure of college needs."
While the Trustees will also be hearing policy updates, Mersereau said the focus of the festivities will be the opening of the Walker Art Building.
"Regular business is important, but all of that will be overshadowed, for good reason, by the art building," he said.
On Friday night about 425 people?including the Trustees, major donors to the project, and members of the art community in Maine will attend a ceremony on the Quad. Chair of the Board of Trustees Peter Small '64, President Barry Mills, and the lead architect for the renovation, Jorge Silvetti, will offer brief remarks.
The museum will open to the campus on Saturday and to the general public on Sunday.
While decisions on tuition increases and tenure are reserved for the May and February meetings, respectively, the Board will receive an update on Bowdoin's interest in acquiring land from the Brunswick Naval Air Station (BNAS). They will also vote to authorize hiring an architectural firm for the construction of a new fitness center. While the construction of the center will not be voted on, this is the first stage in making it a formal project, said Mersereau.
Individual committees will also meet. Student Representative on the Facilities and Properties Committee Mike Dooley '10 said that the committee will present the Ecosystem Representatives an update on the climate commitment Mills signed earlier this year.
"Having a student linked is important because it links the decision making to who it effects, the student," said Dooley of the 17 student representatives to the Board of Trustees.
"Students, faculty, and Trustees will assemble with one goal in mind and that is ensuring that the focus of the campus is aligned with the goals of the administration and the needs of the students," added Student Representative Tony Thrower '09.