Knox College made their newest addition to campus official yesterday.
It took almost exactly year for Whitcomb Art Building to be built.
Ground broke in October 2015.
Friday’s ribbon cutting comes two days shy of a year from the groundbreaking ceremony.
Mayor John Pritchard, Knox President Teresa Amott, as well as representatives of trustees, contractors, architectural firms, students and staff helped to cut the ribbon.
The building is named after Joan and Dick Whitcomb, alumni who made a $5 million cash gift to Knox.
The rest of the roughly $8.9 million cost of construction was funded by donors who specifically gave for the project.
With the new Whitcomb Art Building, also comes a new design minor.
But Dick says it would be more appropriate if it was just the “Joan Whitcomb Art Building.”
He confessed he was never much of an art lover but he gave for the building’s construction for his wife, who he met at Knox 57 years ago.
“We’ve been together a long time. You’ve heard it said that good men owe a lot to their wives. I owe her everything,” Dick says. “So faculty, staff, students…enjoy your building.”
Joan is a life director for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
The Whitcombs donation marks the largest gift ever given to Knox by a living donor.
Sustainability was consciously incorporated into the building’s construction, including north facing skylights to reduce artificial lighting.
