A COMING CENTRE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 299, 13 September 1919, Page 9

A COMING CENTRE

ECCLESIASTIC AND SCHOLASTIC.

(By Civis.) There is little doubt but that the area of the city which circles tho Basin Reservo is destined to lie' the ecclesiastic and scholastic centre of the Empire City. Already there aro four or five schools of different denominations, and at least two churches within a stone's throw of the Reserve, but that is only tlio beginning. The Wellington College lias extensive grounds in tho south-eastern corner, and the. sombiy bulk of St. Patrick's College loom? to the northward. Quite recentl.y a fine new brick parish school was erected in Buekto Street, and there is an Anglican day school conducted in connection with St. Mark's Church on the eastern side of the reserve. What the future holds ig becoming clearer each year, "lie Anglican Church authorities have definite!} decided on tho St. Mark's sito as the location for the new Cathedral, towards tho erection of which a considerable sum has already been collected, chiefly through the activities of the Rev. Mr. Askew. Alongside, or nearly so, is the proposed site of the new Roman Catholic Cathedral, for which there is iu.so a considerable fund in hand. Another fact in tho 6loiv change is the Government's decision to allocate some four or five acres of the Mount Cook block for the erection of the Wellington Technical College, and, if the ideas of some of the political leaders are given expression to, the northerly portion of that block, now occupied by the Alexandra Barracks, may becomo the site of the.Dominion Museum and National Art GaSlery of the future. With the rapid spread of population eastward and south-eastward of the old city proper the Basin Reserve is now probably a truer centre of the city than any other point that could be named. Durine the present week tho site of the Wellington Technical College lias been inspected by several of those concerned in the conference of technical boards, and generally the dominating eminence of the situation has been approved, though in some respects the surroundings leave a good deal to bo desired.