ST. PATRICK’S COLLEGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 957, 28 April 1930, Page 14

ST. PATRICK’S COLLEGE

FOUNDATION STONE LAID IN WELLINGTON FINE NEW BUILDING Press Association "W ELLINGTON, Sunday. The ceremony of blessing and laying the foundation-stone of the new St. Patrick’s College at Silverstream, 17 miles from Wellington, took place today. There was a distinguished gathering of clergy and friends of the college. Archbishop Redwood and Archbishop O’Shea, of Wellington, Bishop Brodie, of Christchurch, Bishop Whyte, of Dunedin, and Bishop Liston, of Auckland, were present. The ceremony was unique inasmuch as Archbishop Redwood, who laid the foundation-stone of the present St. Patrick’s College in Wellington 46 years ago, and who is now in his 92nd year, laid the foundation-stone of the new St. Patrick’s College. The gathering included old boys of the college from all parts of New Zealand and from Australia.

The present St. Patrick’s College, in Cambridge Terrace, will be retained as a day school. A feature of the progress of this college in recent years has been a remarkable increase in the number of day scholars, of whom there are now about 200. The contract price for the new building is £76,020. It is hoped, however, to proceed with the chapel before the present contract is completed and this will mean an additional cost of £13,000. The chapel is to be a memorial to old boys, especially to those who gave their lives in the Great War. The site is acknowledged to be one of the finest in New Zealand. The college authorities secured 880 acres, perhaps the finest property in the Hutt Valley. It is bounded by the Heretaunga golf links on the north and the Wellington City Council Memorial Park on the south. The buildings are being erected on a terrace near the main road, in the centre of a plain surrounded by low, forested hills. Grounds for football, cricket, tennis and golf will be laid out before the end of this year.