The Grosse Pointe War Memorial Association in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, has announced gifts totaling $20 million from Fred Alger, founder of the Wall Street firm Alger Management.

The gifts, which include a $12 million commitment announced previously, will fund construction of a 25,000-square-foot facility, scheduled to open next spring, to be named the Fred M. Alger Center for Arts, Culture, and Humanities at the War Memorial. The funds also will support arts and cultural offerings, programming around democracy-related issues, and service-centered philanthropic efforts, as well as improvements to the estate's grounds and garden, the creation of a waterside park, and a public art installation.

The gifts continue a family legacy of support for the institution. In 1949, the family's ancestral home was dedicated as a permanent war memorial with a two-fold purpose: to honor the thirty-five hundred Grosse Pointers who served and the more than hundred and twenty who died in World War II; and to serve as a continuing center for educational, cultural, charitable, and patriotic activities of the Grosse Pointe community.

"I am incredibly moved by the sense of adventure and can-do attitude of the War Memorial and am honored to play a role in supporting the legacy of my ancestral home and writing the next chapter of possibilities," said Alger. "It has been a pleasure to work with the War Memorial during this transformational time, and I am proud to be a leading part of its bright future."

"The Fred M. Alger Center at the War Memorial will aspire to connect us all through programming fueled by curiosity and a sense of humble service, particularly as we carefully emerge out of this pandemic and time of fear," said War Memorial president and CEO Charles Burke. "We believe that Mr. Alger's faith over fear and vision of hope will have a true impact in the region and that [they] will serve as inspiration for others along this noble journey."