BRUNSWICK (AP) – The Bowdoin College Museum of Art reopened its doors to the public Sunday following a two-year $20.8 million renovation and expansion project.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Maine Arts Commission Director Alden Wilson said the building will attract visitors from the world over.

“It has become an international-class museum, a truly remarkable achievement to have in the state of Maine,” Wilson said.

The project, which got under way in 2005, added 63 percent more space to museum, which went from nine to 14 galleries.

It improved accessibility for the handicapped, and added climate controls to preserve the works inside.

The most visible change is a new glass-and-bronze entrance pavilion with a glass elevator and a “floating” steel staircase. On another side of the building, a glassed-in addition allows the public to see inside the museum’s Assyrian Gallery.

“The glass is meant as an invitation to come visit us,” said Katy Kline, the museum’s director. “We want people to know that it’s a public facility that is open to the world.”

At Sunday’s ceremony, a giant red ribbon was unfurled around the pavilion and cut by a group that included Bowdoin College President Barry Mills and Gov. John Baldacci.

The museum is home to one of the state’s most important art collections, with some 15,000 objects valued at more than $100 million.

Earle Shettleworth, director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, said the Bowdoin museum ranks with the Portland Museum of Art and the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland as among the best in Maine.

He expects Brunswick benefit from the Bowdoin museum, much the way Portland’s Congress Square district and downtown Rockland experienced economic upswings after those museums were upgraded.

“I think it has been proven that whenever there is a major investment in an arts facility, it has had a direct and positive impact on the local economy,” Shettleworth said.