Warwick couple’s $1-million gift funds Bates College campus restoration project

A $1-million gift from Henry “Jack” Keigwin ’59, and his wife, Beverly, of Warwick, R.I., has funded a major environmental restoration project and new granite amphitheater on the Bates College campus.

The Keigwins’ gift has supported the redesign and landscaping of Lake Andrews, as well as restoring the ecology of the 2.2-acre campus pond, which has emerged as the central feature of the landscape and architecture. The new amphitheater, hand built by a local craftsman, is named in memory of Jack Keigwin’s aunt, Florence Keigwin, while the new walkway around the pond memorializes Beverly Keigwin’s mother, Marjorie Burgoyne.

“The Keigwins’ generosity recognizes the importance of aesthetic appeal and contemplative zones in the residential life of a liberal-arts college,” said Bates President Donald W. Harward. “Their longtime partnership in ensuring the aesthetic qualities of the Bates campus by crafting spaces of appeal and interest is deeply appreciated.”

“The Lake Andrews area on the Bates campus is a place of respite and rejuvenation,” said Jack Keigwin, president of F.H. French Co. Inc. of Lincoln, R.I., a leading designer of commercial and industrial properties. “It is a place to gather and to celebrate, a place for recreation — for the soul and mind.” The project construction began in May and will be completed in spring 1999, coinciding with the 40th reunion year of Keigwin’s class at Bates.