SACKVILLE, N.B. – One of Mount Allison University’s most successful grads will be honoured when the university’s new arts centre is completed.
President and vice-chancellor Dr. Robert Campbell said the 50,000-square-foot facility will be known as the Purdy Crawford Centre for the Arts, in honour of the university’s fifth chancellor.
“Purdy Crawford has been one of Mount Allison’s most prominent success stories for decades,” Campbell said during a sod-turning ceremony on Friday. “His long-time commitment to the University and his dedication to its continual improvement have been exemplary, inspirational, and consequential. We are very proud and pleased to have his distinguished name associated with this exciting new project.”
Crawford graduated from Mount Allison with a bachelor of arts degree in 1952. He went on to complete a law degree at Dalhousie University, and a master of laws at Harvard Law School. He has built one of the most respected resumés in Canadian business, first as a lawyer, then as a businessman.
Through it all, he has remained connected to his alma mater, serving on the board of regents and as honorary co-chair of the $96-million JUMP fund raising campaign, in addition to his five years as chancellor from 1995 to 2000.
“I am thrilled to see construction on the Centre for the Arts go ahead, and so proud that my family is part of it in such a special way,” says board of regents chair Suzanne Crawford, Purdy Crawford’s daughter. “My father has always deeply believed in investing in the next generation and he is honoured to have hisname associated with this new academic building, where future generations of students will be able to learn their craft in the best possible environment.”
Construction on the $30-million Purdy Crawford Centre for the Arts began in August. The centre — Mount Allison’s first new academic building in more than three decades — is scheduled to open in September 2014.
Featuring a large atrium that will provide area for exhibitions and receptions as well as a gathering space for students, the centre will be home to contemporary art studios with facilities for painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography, and other media; a studio hall with reinforced floors, heightened ceilings, and controlled lighting; and a 100-seat black box theatre with cutting-edge sound and lighting.
The Centre is being built without any government or borrowed funding, with $20 million of the total cost coming from private donors.
