“When something happens on campus, it has a ripple effect on our community,” Singh said, mentioning the potential for development and redevelopment of homes near the new museum, the creation of “spin-off” businesses and increased tourism.

“We look at this as an investment into how this is going to reshape our downtown. We want to be able to use this museum as an incentive to bring in new art businesses who want to be located near this facility.”

MSU alumnus Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe, donated a $26 million cash gift to the university in June to develop the museum. The facility is scheduled to be finished in 2010 and will be located on Grand River Avenue next to Berkey Hall.

Singh said the Kresge Art Center will seek additional money from donors to help the city reach its goal of a $100,000 contribution.

“The donors will be reminded that their dollars will go a little further and beyond benefiting just the university if they continue giving money,” he said. “This museum really marries our downtown and Michigan State University to the arts.”

Mayor Pro Tem Victor Loomis said the building’s close proximity to downtown sparked the city’s interest in backing the project.

“This museum will have two front doors — a front door on campus and a front door to the city,” Loomis said. “It really is a brick-and-mortar link between MSU and the city of East Lansing.”

Loomis announced a new Cultural Entrepreneurship Fund to benefit existing and future arts-oriented businesses in the city. Although details haven’t been decided, Loomis said the fund will grant one of the city’s arts-oriented businesses $50,000 through a grant or loan.

One of five architectural firms will take over the reigns in building the museum when the MSU Board of Trustees makes its selection in September.

Museum Director Susan Bandes said each of the plans spell vast improvements upon the current art center, which is nearly 50 years old.

The university presented each of the design firms with a 36-page document before they began their plans that described the needs of the new facility.

“We’re leaping to a whole different level,” Bandes said. “There will be an impact on the types of collections and shows we can have, and we’ll no longer be hiding behind a brick wall with parking that is hard to find.”