$300,000 gymnasium opened

Press, 19 April 1984, Page 3

$300,000 gymnasium opened

At least three policemen waited in the street outside Shirley Boys’ High School yesterday while the Minister of Education, Mr Wellington, opened the school’s new gymnasium. Superintendent J. F. Waugh said later that Mr Wellington was “a pretty controversial figure at the moment” and that the police would have been failing in their duty if they had not had men there.

Although policemen are not always at hand when Cabinet Ministers make public appearances, Mr Waugh described yesterday’s presence as a standard precaution. The opening, however, went without incident. Mr Wellington used the opportunity to defend Government assistance to integrated schools. He said that loans given intergrated schools for capi-

tal works were funded through the Housing Corporation. They did not come out of the education vote, and the Government had spent more than $BO million on State school buildings in the last financial year. He also said that in the last five years, the Government had spent almost $2O million on gymnasiums and sports pavilions, a “giltedged investment” given the

contribution sport made to the character of the individual and the nation. It was the first visit by a Minister of Education to the school in its 27-year history and Mr Wellington said that he was delighted to attend the opening of the complex. It cost about $300,000 to build, $lOO,OOO of which was raised by the school itself. The balance was provided by the Ministry of Sport and

Recreation, the Christchurch City Council, and the Education Department. The new gymnasium is linked to an existing one and between them they contain three squash courts and a swimming pool, with associated storage and kitchen space. Members of the community will be able to use the facility for 30 hours a week.