SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND THE FUTURE

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 97, 26 April 1932, Page 8

SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND THE FUTURE

(To the Editor.) . Sir,—l was .greatly interested in the Press pars regarding the altered conditions , as to attendance at some o£ the, city dayschools, and think there are some lessons to be learnt thereupon by the Education Department in the erection of their school buildings, and the policy of the ex-Minister for Education; Mr! Atmbre, reiterated by him at the ; opening of.the Petone lech-, nica! College workshops". : The Terrace School was re-erected some years back in wood, and is good for many years to come.' pupils numbered six or seven hundred a "few years back, yet to-j day the number; has fallen to below two hundred, and many of the rooms are empty. Clyde Quay School is in a similar position.' If these schools had been erect.cd under, Mr. Atmore's policy many thousands of pounds would be going to waste. It is said by those "who ought to know that the building opened at Petone last Wednesday could have been erected at a price at least one-third less and have been equally safe in design and construction against earth-shock. The new Willis Street School is a case in point. If ther costly policy had been adopted it would have cost three or four times as much as was spent in its construction in wood. My contention is that in a new country, with its ever-growing and shifting residential population; school buildings should be such that no great capital cost would have to be sacrificed if they had to be scrapped. Of course, there would be exceptions, but, generally speaking, a life of from 30 to 40 years would be ample to meet the changing requirements. ' In the case" of Petone, if it becomes the great industrial centre that is hoped for, the-site on which the new workshops are erected will be found totally inadequate in a few years' time unless the public park is to be encroached upon. I should say build for immediate future, foi- it is impossible for anyone to foretell what will be required in the years that are to come, and in my opinion, with exception?, wood on concrete foundations will fill the bill at moderate cost.—l am. etc.. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE.