NEW ORLEANS – It’s the New Orleans' National World War II Museum’s largest gift ever.
Donald “Boysie” Bollinger, chairman and chief executive officer of Bollinger Enterprises and former chairman and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards Inc., announced today he would donate $20 million to the museum.
According to Chad Calder with The Advocate, the money will go towards the construction of a signature architectural canopy at the 6-acre Warehouse District campus, provide at least $6 million toward exhibits and increase the museum’s endowment fund by $4 million.
Calder reports the anticipated 150-foot-tall “Canopy of Peace,” which will be built from Teflon-coated fiberglass membrane panels to provide shade and a screen where lighting and messages can be projected from below, is something donor Bollinger said will create an impressive addition to the New Orleans skyline.
The final price tag on the project could reach $10 million, and is slated for completion in 2017.
Bollinger sits on the Museum’s Board of Trustees, Calder reports, and wanted to top a $15 million donation Boeing made to fund the Freedom Pavilion in 2010.
The WWII Museum is currently engaged in a capital campaign with a $325 million goal. According to Calder, Bollinger’s donation brings their campaign fund up to the $245 million mark, leaving $80 million to go.
