Teachers’ College Site Delay

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30626, 17 December 1964, Page 15

Teachers’ College Site Delay

“If we keep on like this, we’ll have spent enough in the last few years on temporary accommodation to have built a new teachers’ college,” said Mr S. W. Gower at a meeting of the Canterbury Education Board yesterday. The question was raised by Mr R. K. Milne, who said he felt the board was “dragging the chain a wee bit” on its progress towards a new site for the Teacher’s College. The education board wants to be more closely associated with the University of Canterbury and has been negotiating for sites near the Ham campus. There have been protracted negotiations for a block of land in Waimairi road, very close to the university site, but these are said to have reached a stalemate. A block of land north of Burnside High School in Memorial avenue is reserved for teachers’ college purposes. The proposed motorway through Hagley park would cut through the present Teachers’ College site in Salisbury street. Mr Milne told the board yesterday that there had been no decision yet on a site for the new building. The college would have more and more students to accommodate on it’s existing quarters, and there seemed to be a bit of a lag with the new building.

“It won’t be ready until 1968,” said Mr Milne, “but the Department says we’ll have to accommodate more and more students. We should make every effort to hurry the matter along.” Mrs C. C. Holland said it was very necessary that the board make it clear that its “village of pre-fabs” in Salisbury street was not brought about by the need for a new site, but because the board still did not know where the motorway was going. “The public don’t know that that lovely building is going down,” she said. “We

are only doing It. piecemeal there because of the uncertainty about the motorway.” Mr Gower said that every further delay affected the introduction of third-year training in Christchurch. “If we don’t hurry we’ll miss out,” he said. “The education vote is being frittered away on necessary temporary buildings.” Mr Milne said the board should press for more urgent consideration of the problem.