NEW GIRLS' CENTRAL SCHOOL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 29 January 1908, Page 2

NEW GIRLS' CENTRAL SCHOOL.

THE FORMAL OPENING. The formal opening of the new Girls' Central School in Shelbourne-6treet took place yesterday afternoon. The date was chosen in order that the members of the Nelson Education Board might be present at the cSieiiloiVy, it being the s«co'.4 day of the Board's mviHuly meeting. The business of the Board was adjourned to enable members to attend at the School. All the members of the Board were present (with tho exception of Mr Franklyn), together with the Inspectors and Board staff. 'Members of the Town Schools Committee observed were the Revs. J. j H. MacKenzie, Messrs Bisley, Boyes, j Webley, Savage, and the Secretary, i while others sent apologies for absencfe. There was also a large muster of the city teaching staff, and an assemblage of several hundreds of the public. In th' 6 . absence of tile Hon.. G. Fowlds, Minister for Education, Mr. A. T. Maginnity,- Chairman of the Nelson Education Board, performed the opening ceremony. A verse of the hymn, "Praise God, from Whom all Blessings Flow," having been sung, Mr Maginnity, in a short speech, stated that the school had cost £2500, towards which the Government had not contributed a single penny, the Board having met the whole of the expenditure out of ordinary reve*nue. The School, he trusted, would last for many years — generations, to fulfil the functions for which it was erected. He hoped the girls would appreciate what had been done for them by the erection of the fine building, and the advantages offered them at the presyit day. It was not so long ago that children had to take a weekly dole to pay their teachers. Now tho children were almost paid to go to school j and he urged them to take full advantage of the educational system placed at their disposal. The sympathy of the parents with the teachers was also, solicited, in order that the best results might be obtained at the School. Mr Maginnity referred to the architecture of the School, remarking that it was to public buildings that they looked for beauitful architecture. Money would be required for levelling and fencing the School ground, and an indication was given that .there Would be ah appeal lo the public for funds to enable this work to be carried out. Mr Maginnity having declared the School open, the assemblage entered the building,' and made a tour of inspection. Later the public gathered in one of the classrooms, where the Rev. Mr MacKenzie made a short speech. He thanked the Government for having given them the beautiful site for the school, in exchange for the Toi Toi Valley site, and he also expressed thanks to the Education Board for what it had done. There had been some complaints that the playground was not sufficiently large, but he assured his hearers that there was plenty of room. The School, it was mentioned, could be approached from north, south, east, and west. Mr MacKenzie congratulated the builders and the sub-contractors on the manner in which they had carried out their work, and expressed a hope that the School would stand for many years and t-hat many bright, happy, and hopeful girls would pass through the School. The girls of Nelson, he contended, should have the very best site in Nelson for a school, and on the. site they had secured gcod work should be done. Mr Maginnity complimented the architect (Mr A. R". Griffin) and the pon , tractors (Messrs Robertson Bros. Ltd.). Mr Griffin was a young architect, and his design had been selected after competition, and the Board's selection was fully justified, the general architecture of the School at once commending itself to everyone. Messrs Robertson Bros, had put into the building the very best material and work, and the School would be a lasting memorial to them. Mr Maginnity asked the assembly to thank by acclamation, the architect and the contractors, and the appeal was heartily responded to. A large number of the visitors partook of a dainty spread provided by the Rev. J. H. and Mrs MacKenzie, and the gathering then dispersed. A REVIEW. It is several years since the agitation for a new Girls' School in the city was commenced. It arose from a very general opinion that the Toi Toi Valley School site was not a healthy ono. In the winter especially, the unsuitableness of the Toi Toi Valley site was very apparent. The School, built on an excavation of a hill, had the sun for only a short period dally, and the drainage from the hill was never satisfactorily coped with. The result was that the site was always more or less damp, and it was seldom during the winter that the water from the hill could not be observed running along the School premises. The unsatisfactory conditions were "appreciated by tho School Committee, and each successive Committee for years past endeavoured to have the School removed to a better site— one on which the health of children and teachers would not be endangered. The Education Board, too, was sympathetic, the majority of the Board backing up the Committee's desire. But the financing of a new site and school was a stumbling block, and matters progressed slowly, if at all, till the idea was started of endeavouring to induce the Government to exchange the old Gaol site in Shelbourne-street for the Toi Toi Valley School site. Negotiations were opened up with the Government, and eventually, with the assistance of good friends with influence legislation was passed giving effect to the exchange. The gaol site secured, the question was, how could a school be | put up. The Board apparently had no money for the purpose, and besides there was a small minority in the Board i winch, raising a town against country cry, persisted in opposing any expenditure on a new School. Applications to the Government for assistance met with a refusal, and there was a deadlock, till the majority of the Board, rising to the occasion, and, as it were, "taking the bull by the horns," fell in with a scheme for meeting the expenditure on a building out of ordinary revenne. From that time there was plain sailing. Competitive designs for a school were invited, and that sent in by Mr A. R. Griffin, of Nelson, was selected from, we believe, 14 sent in, Tenders for the erection of the School were called for, Messrs Robertson Bros, being the successful tenderers. Very soon the old gaol was demolished, and a few weeks later the new School was well forward, and the contractors, pushing on with their work, have completed, m time for the re-opening of I the schools after tre Christmas vaca- I tion, the handsome new building which now adorns the site formerly occupied by the historic old gaol— a site commanding a view of the town and bay— a site unequalled, for the purposes for which it will in future be used, in the whole of the city. We extend to the Education Board, the Town Schools Committee, the teachers, and finally the children, our congratulations on the successful completion of the agitation for a new Girls' Central School. DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING. This notice would not be complete without a brief general description of the new School, which is therefore given. The building has been erected in wood with concrete foundations, at a cost of just over £2500. The main frontage has a length of 92 feet, but at each end there is a class room 28 feet .in length. The full depth of the building is 68 feet. There are two main entrances, with corridors, in the front, but there are also two entrances from the back of the School. Five class rooms have been provided, four of them being 36x25 feet, and the remaining ones 25x24 feet. All the class rooms have been built so as to receive a maximum share of sun. They have 14 feet walls, with coved ceilings, the latter adopted as giving the best acoustic results. Round the walls the modern materia], hyloplate, a substitute for the old-fashioned blackboard, has ! been placed. (This material, it may be mentioned, has been put in at all the schools erected by the Nelson Education Board during the past three or four years, and is a great improvement on the blackboardsT The advantages of hyloplate, however, are not yet appreciated by at least some of the other and larger Boards in the Dominion. Otago, for instance, is not yet up-to-date, the material being apparently unknown to that Board). Throughout the School, a maximum degree of light and ventila-

tion has been provided, the sanitary arrangements are complete and modern, and each class room has a slow combustion stove for use in the cold weatherl The head teacher has a room 10x10 feet, and the remainder of the staff also have a room of similar dimensions. The capacious library, with sliding doors, is a convenience which should bo appreciated. A parapet surrounds the building, and with the pediments above the large windows along the front give the School a fine appearance. There is a five-light window fitted with lead lights in each of the gable ends. The roof is of Marseilles tiles, and through the centre rises a belfry to which is attached a flagpole, and from which the Scllool flag I yesterday floated proudly in the breeze. A rooffly shelter shed, and a shed for bicycles, and wood and coal, have also been erected, but the position, unfortunately, is .too. riromins'nt. The levelling of the School ground and. tlie erection of a f^nce are works for the future. As stated, the Schcol was designed by Mr A..R. Gi:.'!r,i, and huilt hy Messrs Robertson P--is., Ltd., the subcontractors,being Messrs Savage and (painting, etc.), and the Nelson Tinware Co., (plumbing).