HALIFAX -- A Halifax art school is renaming one of its campuses after receiving one of the largest donations in the university's 127-year history.
Longtime board member Margaret Fountain and her husband David announced Wednesday the $3 million gift to the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University.
"I'm very close to the university -- I'm passionate about its sustainability," she said from an art gallery in the newly-renamed Fountain Campus.
"I love everything about this (campus) block and the students who are educated here, and I think it's very important for us to acknowledge the viability of NSCAD and show confidence in its future."
University president Daniel O'Brien said most of the donated funds will likely go towards building renovations.
"It's really a board decision," said O'Brien. "But my guess is the lion's share of it will go to enhancing these properties -- these are historic properties.
NSCAD has struggled financially in recent years. Its current debt is $13 million.
O'Brien said without the donation, the school would have been hard-pressed to keep its downtown facilities.
The university intends to develop the ground-floor spaces of the Fountain Campus for lease, part of a plan to double the total amount of rental space by next year.
