The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in Los Angeles has announced a $32 million gift from Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charles T. Munger in support of a new Education and Visitor Center.

Munger's is the lead gift in a $60 million fundraising campaign for the center, which will feature six and a half acres of new gardens and about 43,000 square feet of educational facilities and visitor amenities, including a 400-seat lecture hall, classrooms and meeting rooms, and an expanded café and gift shop. The project, which is scheduled to be completed in early 2015, also includes the addition of more than 40,000 square feet of underground storage space for the institution's growing collections of rare historical research holdings and other materials.

Munger and his late wife also provided funding for the Munger Research Center, which opened in 2004 and provides storage for the Huntington's library collections, conservation and imaging facilities, space for research and exhibition preparation, and administrative offices.

"We are enormously grateful for Charlie's vision and support of this project," said Huntington president Steven Koblik. "Charlie, together with his late wife, Nancy, have helped move the Huntington to a much stronger position with respect to how we engage with our various audiences. We are forever grateful for their support."