NEW RICHMONDSCHOOL.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18238, 24 November 1924, Page 6

NEW RICHMONDSCHOOL.

FOUNDATION STONE LAID.

The ceremony of la.fing the foundation stone of the new' Richmond School, in Cumberland street, ' was performed on Saturday afternoon by Mr H. J. Bignell, chairman of the Canterbury Education Board. There was a good attendance at the function, which was favoured with beautiful weather. Mr F. E. -Talbot, chairman of the School Committee, presided. The building at present being erected Till consist of seven class-rooms, and with outbuildings -will cost approximately The second _section, which will coiiiprise a separate infant school, will bo .put in hand later. The site was acquired in June, 1921, by the Department at a cos't of £1250/ of which amount. £4OB was.'met by the sale of the Stanrriore road frontage to the! old site. Further extensions to'the site were made bv the purchase of land, from Messrs Kingston, y Cox, Barsby and Wharton, "for the sum of £625. A subsidy of £lO3 was given bv the Government.

' The chairman said that Satjirdpy would be regarded as a red-letter day in the history of Richmond. It- was fifteen years ago, he said, since the committee'first looked round-for a site for the new building. It was regretted that the Department was unable to grant sufficient money to complete the building, which meant that in-the meantime | some of the scholars would continue to | be educated in the. old building. With regard to the old school site, he hoped that when the school was finished with the site would not be allowed to pass into private hands. -He thought--'it should be devoted to the purposes of a public reserve, such as the children's playground at Sydenham. He took the opportunity of publicly thanking Mr D. &. Sullivan, M.P., for his efforts in connexion with' the 'new building.' l * . The Mayor, Mr J. A. Fleslier, that he supposed he wa3 the oldest scholar of the school present. He-had always had the interest of the school at heart, as he had received the groundwork of his education there. The school had a great record, and of tho eight headmasters who had taught'in it four had become inspectors. He considered that it was a wise to erect substantial brick buildings such as the new building would be. -He thought that the open spaces usually surrounding schools were not nearly large enough for their purpose. In fact, he would like to see the present playground and the new on<?> extended to. reach as far as London otreet, even if a loan had to be raised fdr the pur-' purpose. With regard to the old brick building of the present school,." ho thought that it might later be used as a library for the Richmond district, Which was at last coming into its own. Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P., said 'tliat the Minister of Education (the Hpn. C. J. Parr) would have dearly liked to be present -on this occasion, but' was prevented by the multiplicity of \his duties. He could assure those present that the School Committee had been tireless in its efforts to get a new school, and now at long last the .building was in course of erection. He'believed that the two most important matters in any community were education and health, and with 'regard to the old school ground he hoped that tho opportunity would be taken to secure it as a recreation ground for Richmond, thus making for the better health of the community. | Mr Bignell said—ln the year •1920 the Board was requested t6" coneider the question of rebuilding a number of schools that were too far ! gone to warrant expenditure on ..renovation. The two selected from the Christchurch urban area were Christchurch West and Richmond. The old wooden school here was erected." in 1875, additions were made in 1882, and the brick schopl was put up in" 1886. Apart 'from the age of the buildings, the extremely bad conditions \ und,er which the school is working owing to the tram service, was a factor- in-in-ducing the Board to go oa with) the work at the earliest possible date. The shortage of mo;noy that was prevalent at the time prevented tho programme being carried out' straight away, ' but about two years ago, the Board -resurrected the proposal and decided that the work on these two should be put in hand. As there was not sufficient money to do both, it became',,a question-which should have preference. While it could not be- said that one was any better than the other, the Richmond people very gracefully gave way and allowed Christchurch West to proceed" without objection." The Board appreciated this spirit and resolved that the following year the Richmond School sliould.be regarded as the most urgent work; and' our. presence here'to-day is, I hope, a very' tangible proof'• that the promises made have been faithfully kept. The residents of Richmond havo reason •to be proud of the -fact that they have a School Committee that is looking after their interests so well. When it became apparent that a new school was required, the site question immediately cropped up, and it is in this ■ direction, that the local representatives have done such good work. They have looked into the future and have bee,n instrumental in securing come valuable additions to the . site originally set apart. Not only have they been ready with suggestions, but have been prepared to back them up with monetary assistance in an endeavour to hand over to your children a ,school. and grounds that will be second to none in the city. The pre-sent-section •; has been designed by Mr Penlington) the Board's architect, and will- be' ierected' by' direct labour under the . supervision of . Mr . Riley, the Board's," foreman. ; This method . of carrying out the-job'-will be a guarantee .that -the work will 'be faithfully done. Parts that are hidden will be just as good as the parts that 'can be seen. The Board has no: object in slumming its work, and when the school is handed over, you will have a building in which lighting, heating, ventilation, and teaching conditons generally have been adopted - according to the most up-to-date methods. I have to thank the Committee for the honour they havo - conferred on me in asking me to officiate at this ceremony, and shall now proceed to place the foundation stone in position, where I trust it will remain for many years to serve as an inspiration to all the young people of the district, who will have the privilege of being- taught in one of the most up-to-date schools in the Dominion.

Mr Bignell then declared the foundation stone well and truly laid. The inscription on the stone is as follows: "Richmond School Foundation Stone, laid by H. J, Bignell, Esq., Chairman Canterbury Education Board, on 22nd November, 1924. Hon. C. J. Parr, Minister of Education; F. E. Talbot, Esq., Chairman School Committee; E. C, Brown, Esq., Hon. Secretary School Committee; W. W. Rowntree, Esq., Headmaster; Geo. Penliaeton, F.N.Z. LA., Architect." Other speakers were the Hon. G. W. Russell, Mr W. Brock, Inspector for the Canterbury Education Board and ex-headmaster of the school, and Mr W W., Rowntree, headmaster.