CAPITOL — When The Egg theater was being built on Empire State Plaza, John Egan, who was deputy commissioner of the Office of General Services, was engrossed with structural issues, making sure the unique design would hold up.

But, as Egan recalled Wednesday at a meeting of the Empire State Plaza Art Commission, then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller (who called him “John-boy”) was more concerned about the look of the building and the surrounding sculptures, which he insisted were a key part of the plaza’s modernist architecture.

Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1908, and the 100th anniversary of that event will be celebrated this year at the plaza he built and which bears his name. That celebration will focus on the art and architecture that were so important to New York’s longest-serving governor, commission members were told.

There will, for example, be a lecture by an architectural historian on the steps of the New York State Museum. Inside the museum, Rockefeller memorabilia will be displayed, and his Lincoln limousine from the museum’s collection will be displayed on the plaza’s underground concourse, where the abstract paintings Rockefeller commissioned are still displayed. But some of those paintings will be displayed in the museum, instead.

Dennis Anderson, curator of the state art collections, said that by a fortunate coincidence the museum will be showing an exhibit of Latin art, one of the kinds that Rockefeller collected.

Musicians from the Albany Symphony will play solos in the concourse for the lunchtime crowds, in performances meant to respond to individual art works.

Commission Chairwoman Agnes Gund said she has discussed the planned celebration with Rockefeller’s widow, Happy, whom she hopes will attend with other family members. Silda Wall Spitzer, wife of the current governor, attended the commission meeting.

Rockefeller, whose father and grandfather made the family fortune in the oil business, was elected governor in 1958 and served until December 1973. A Republican, he became vice president of the United States in 1974, serving until 1977. He died in 1979.

The commission is also planning some changes, including lending out parts of the collection and accepting new gifts. Until now, Egan said, OGS has not accepted gifts of art works intended for display in the plaza, but that policy is likely to change. Egan is now serving for the second time as OGS commissioner.

The commission is also planning to establish a Web site, with a virtual tour of the collections. Improvements are planned at the plaza, commission members were told, including more public access and more benches and trash receptacles on the concourse.

But Anderson said he is not aware of any plans to give the public free access to the second floor of the Capitol, where paintings of most of the state’s governors are displayed. That is also the area where Gov. Eliot Spitzer has his Albany office.

Public access was restricted there for security reasons under Spitzer’s predecessor, George Pataki. Members of the public also have to go through security checkpoints to enter the Capitol.

When Spitzer took office last year, there was speculation that the security restrictions would be relaxed, but that has not happened.