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Michigan State University's Broad Art Museum Opens Saturday

EAST LANSING (WWJ/AP) - A $40 million Zaha Hadid-designed art museum opens Saturday at Michigan State University.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum features a facade of pleated stainless steel and glass, a look that distinguishes it from the traditional brick buildings that surround it on the East Lansing campus.

The 46,000-square-foot Broad museum features a collection of 7,500 objects from the Greek and Roman periods through the Renaissance and on to Modern, a number of which were donated by Broad, a Los Angeles billionaire and Michigan State graduate.

"The new Broad Art Museum is a powerful architectural statement, symbolizing the 21st-century dynamic global position of Michigan State University," MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said in a statement.

"The museum will provide opportunities for students and faculty across disciplines to explore contemporary issues through art and for the university to engage with local, regional, national and international communities," Simon said.

The school said the museum will also have an annual residency program, "The Land Grant: Art, Agriculture, Sustainability," for artists whose work addresses land use, food and urban development, with a focus on sustainability. Other projects and performances are also being planned by Alison Gass, curator of contemporary art and Dan Hirsch, curator of public programs and performance.

The museum is expected to attract somewhere between 125,000 to 150,000 annual visitors and pump $5.75 million per year in new spending into the regional economy, an economic study predicts.

The East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group projects that visitors to the museum will spend more than $2 million for shopping, entertainment and other retail; $1.4 million for food and drink; $1.1 million for transportation-related expenses; and $1.1 million for overnight accommodations.

Of the projected annual visitors, 30,000 people will be first-time visitors coming specifically for the museum, the study states. About 60,000 others visiting the area for other reasons are expected to extend their stay to tour the museum. Additional attendance is likely for special functions and educational programs.

The Broad MSU will be dedicated at 10 a.m. Nov. 10, and will host a public open house from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 11.

For more information, visit www.broadmuseum.msu.edu.

TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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