‘No school at Karitane’

Press, 28 March 1980, Page 4

‘No school at Karitane’

There had' never been any suggestion that a transcendental meditation school would be set up in the old Christchurch Karitane Hospital, according fo the chairman of the Karitane Hospital Board (Mr T. I. Smail). Mr Smail said that the first he had heard of the idea was when he read about it in “The Press” yesterday.

The board had been renting the hospital building to the meditation movement monthly and had never considered a longterm lease. Mr Smail said that the board wanted to sell the building as soon as possible to use the money to set up Plunket family-sup-

port units in Canterbury and Westland. He said that he had met Mr Guy Hatchard, of the meditation group, and had told him that the board wanted to sell the property, which was valued in 1975 at $328,000. Mr Hatchard had told him that! the group could not afford to buy the building but would like to lease it, said Mr Smail. Mr Hatchard had been told that the board was not interested in long-term leasing. Mr Smail said he had never heard of the Maharishi School for Creative Intelligence before yesterday morning. Mr Hatchard said that he thought that the pub-

licity had “put Mr Smail off.” He said he thought Mr Smail was feeling sorry that Karitane’s name had been linked with transcendental meditation. The group had been leasing part of the Karitane building for the last 18 months because the board had been unable to sell it. A school had been talked about when the rent was first negotiated, he said. Mr Hatchard said that 1 the meditation group still hoped that the Karitane Hospital would be available, but if it was not, the group would investigate several other likely places to set 1 up the school, which would still go ahead.