THE TECHNICAL COLLEGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14000, 4 March 1909, Page 7

THE TECHNICAL COLLEGE.

. MORE MONEY WANTED. APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENT. The position in connection with the Auckland Technical College tenders was before the Board of Education again ; yesterday. At the previous meeting of the Board, when the tenders were opened, it was found that the ' lowest tender, that of Mr. Julian, largely exceeded the sum available for the building, and the whole matter was referred to the Board's consulting architect, Mr. Mahoney, the Board's own architect (Mr. Parrel!), and the Executive Committee. Yesterday reports were received by the Board. The first was that of Mr. Mahoney and Mr. Farrell, and was as follows :— In accordance with your request that we should advise- you as to the. best course to adopt in regard to the erection of the above building, the lowest tender for which exceeded the amount available, we beg to submit the following report : —lt appears to us that there are three ways in which the difficulty may be met— By reducing the size of the building. 2. By adopting ■a cheaper method of construction than, that proposed by Mr. Mitchell. 3. By increasing the amount allowed for the erection of the building. In regard to the first proposal, we understand that the building, as tendered for on alternative No. 6, the lowest tender for which is £29.877, provides the minimum of accommodation which the director of technical education considers absolutely necessary for the efficient working of the school. If this be so, and no further reduction in size can be made, we come to the second proposal, viz., a cheaper method of construction. We believe that a building with brick walls and wooden floors can bo erected at from 15 to 20 per cent, less cost than in reinforced concrete. On the oilier hand, we do not think it would be advisable in such a building as a technical school to adopt wooden flooring, for the following reasons :—l. The danger of tire, and probable loss of life in a lofty building occupied by a-large number of students; and (2) the lesser durability of wooden construction. We would therefore prefer that the building as designed in reinforced concrete should be retained, and an effort, made to obtain a further grant for its erection. If. however, such increased cost cannot be obtained, the only alternative is to erect the building in a cheaper method of construction.. Should .this course be adopted, we suggest that the outer walls be of brick, the front of pressed brick, with Oama.ru : stone dressings, and the inner partitions of light concrete or brick. In this case it would also be advisable to have one of the lower floors constructed in reinforced concrete, so as to provide for the fixing of heavy machinery, and reduce, to some extent, the danger from fire —the remainder of the floors to be in the ordinary wood construction.

The Executive Committee, having con eidered this report, recommended as follows :— . . >

1. That application be made to the Minister for a special grant of £12,000, to be distributed over two years, to enable the Board to accept a tender for the erection of a fire-proof building of ferro-concrete construction, on the lines of Scheme VI. in the specification, as recommended by the consulting architects, and that in the meantime consideration of the tenders be deferred. ,

2. That, providing the Minister is willing to authorise a grant of the funds required, the architect, be authorised to obtain new prices from ; the tenderers (Messrs. Julian and Hutchinson) for. a new building on the lines of the alternative scheme, with the minimum of requirements.

3. Your committee cannot recommend the adoption of Mr. Mitchell special method of construction, with Oamaru stone facing, in view of the consulting architect's opinion thereon, and suggest the elimination of that form of , construction from the scheme. .

4. Your committee recommend that the proposal to instal Messrs. Sturtevant*6 system of heating and ventilating he building be not at present proceeded with, and that tenders be invited for an artificial system of. ventilation, and that the architect be instructed to make provision accordingly when inviting new prices.

Mr. George George (director of technical education) said he would suggest (hat the Board should ask the City Council to submit a proposal to the ratepayers to authorise the raising of a special loan of £10,000 to enable - the erection of the building to be proceeded with. Such a loan would carry £ for £ subsidy from the Government under sections 191 and 192 of the Education Act, 1908. This £20,000, together with the £24,000 in hand, would enable the first section of the building, as already planned, to be erected. He knew there was a ( strong feeling against education being provided for rut of the rates, but technical education was universally considered to be directly remunerative to the community, and tie erection of a fully-equipped Technical College, such as, was not found in iny other town in the Dominion, would add distinctly to the status of this, the premier city. It would, no doubt, be pointed out that many students who attend the college do not reside in the city, and that if the city raised the loan, other heal bodies should contribute their share in

like manner. Whilst this was true, at the same time it should be borne in mind that the majority of,students were engaged in work in the city, and, therefore, were presumably wealth producers for the t'fy, and the more efficient these were, the more will the city benefit. In six vents the number of students attending technical classes in Auckland city had increased from 30 to over 1100, a number which was not nailed by «y town in the United Kingdom of the population of Auckland. The present Auckland Technical College was a conglomerate of seven separate hired buildings, some ol which could on!v be described as shanties, and poor shanties at that. Yet under these conditions the youth of Auckland were doing work in many departments which compared favourably with that done by similar students in any part ».f the world that he had visited.

The Chairman (Mr. C. J. Pan) said there was £23,000 in hand to execute a work the lowest tender for which V'as £29,00<\ and, with extras, the total would be at least £30.000. The architects wore; of opinion that scheme No. 6, which Mr. r >rjre suggested as the minimum request, was a good plan, and of good design, and it would be well if the Board could get the money to go on with it. Th«« executive, therefore,, thought the Board should approach the Minister for Education, and ask for a special grant. The Government had made similar grants, before, and, therefore, the Board would not be asking for anything new. There vas not even "Buckley's chance" of the ratepayers raising a Joan, for they had enough in hand already. He would like to think of the ratepayers as Mr. George did. but was afraid there wasn't any hope in that direction If the Board could not get a special grant it would have to adopt a cheaper construction. Mr. George said he had received some encouragement in this matter in the city, and also found a very different feeling towards technical education to that existing a few years ago. Reference being made to the "special construction," the chairman said this was an invention of Mr. Mitchell's, the designing, architect, and while it might be very good, still the Board could not venture on any experiment. The Board adopted the Executive Committee's recommendations, with the exception of the final clause (relating to ventilating), deferring that for future consideration. Mr. George's suggestion was also deferred.