A model rendition of the Baldwin Auditorium renovation.

Durham, NC - The Duke University Board of Trustees on Saturday approved a striking makeover for one of the university's landmark buildings, the Baldwin Auditorium performance space on East Campus.

Meeting for the first time this academic year, the trustees also gave the go-ahead for a renovation of the West Campus Steam Plant and for the renaming of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library in honor of trustee David M. Rubenstein.

The renovations to Baldwin were first announced in May, when The Duke Endowment of Charlotte, N.C., made an $80 million gift to renovate Baldwin and Page auditoriums and to transform the West Union into a "Main Street" for students, faculty and visitors to campus.

The Baldwin renovation approved Saturday will cost an estimated $15 million and is scheduled to be completed in 2013. The building's interior will be upgraded with improved acoustics, new seats and other patron amenities, along with much-needed improvements to the infrastructure.

With its distinctive white dome and Georgian design, Baldwin Auditorium is the primary rehearsal and performance venue for numerous student ensembles, including the Duke Symphony Orchestra, the Duke Jazz Ensemble, the Duke Chorale and the Duke Wind Symphony. It is named for historian Alice Baldwin, the first dean of Duke's former Women's College.

In addition, the board reviewed preliminary plans for an events pavilion that would initially serve as a dining facility when the West Union building undergoes renovations in the near future. Initial plans locate it adjacent to the plaza and the Bryan Center near West Union, the home to Duke eateries, where it would serve as a temporary dining facility when West Union renovations begin. The West Union transformation is part of the historic renovation project made possible by The Duke Endowment gift.

The West Campus Steam Plant, which burned the last of its coal in April, will undergo a series of environmentally friendly changes that will allow it to use natural gas instead of coal to supply power to West Campus and Duke Hospital. Workers will remove three existing coal-fired boilers and replace them with new boilers that burn natural gas or, as a backup fuel, oil. The project also includes a major refurbishment of the structure.

In addition to converting the plant to a more sustainable operation, the $35 million project will follow Duke's building guidelines of acquiring Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Similar renovations to the East Campus Steam Plant earned it a gold LEED rating this year.

Last month, Rubenstein announced he was giving Duke Libraries its largest donation, $13.6 million, toward the renovation of the special collection library, which includes more than 350,000 printed volumes and more than 20 million items in manuscript and archival collections. All told, its holdings document more than 20 centuries of human history and culture.

The special collections library, which is open to the public, is also home to the University Archives and several research centers, including the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture; the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture; the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History; the Archive of Documentary Arts; and the Human Rights Archive.

In other business, the trustees reaffirmed the university's commitment to its need-blind admission policy. Under this policy, all qualified U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents are accepted regardless of their ability to pay for college, and Duke guarantees it will meet 100 percent of demonstrated financial need.

The board also received updates on Duke Kunshan University, whose campus is now under construction in China; the future direction of Duke's Office of Global Strategies and Programs; and the Sanford School of Public Policy.