LOGAN PARK AND THE ALBANY STREET SCHOOL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19107, 28 February 1924, Page 11

LOGAN PARK AND THE ALBANY STREET SCHOOL.

TO THE EDITOB. gnq.—Having been chairman of the Otago Education Board wlien tne negotiations between that board and the Barbour Board for the exchange of sites were initiated, 1 have naturally lollowed with interest subsequent developments, and rejoiced when it was announced that the two bodies had reached an agreement, which was later translated into an equitable contract to transfer all the lands comprised within what is known as the Albany Street School site to the board in exchange for an area of eight acres to bo carved out of the future reclamation of Lake P.ogun. Let it be remembered that those negotiations were conducted and completed long before there was any suggestion of holding an international Exhibition in Dunedin or of utilising the projected reclamation as a people's parK. dome of the speakers at recent conferences and sime writers in the press have argued as though all the advantage were on tne side of the Harbour Board, when the actual fact is that the latter bod.v wnl receive a substantial quid pro quo when its scheme of town planning materialises, mid when, as a natural consequence, tho hoiud s leasing area will receive a valuable accretion, the measure of which can only he speculated on at present. My contention is a simple one—viz., that a contract deliberately entered ‘upon by two local bodies, which after all are the creations of tile people of tho province of, Otago and, therefore, are expected to co-operate tor the common good, must not be treated as _ a more “scrap of paper,” but its essential conditions having been agreed on in good faith must be carried out both in its letter and spirit. That is the view, I am glad to observe, which is held by tho majority of tho members of the Harbour Board, and will, 1 trust, bo maintained to tho logical collusion of tho controversy. I join issue with Mr .lolm Loudon when, he asserts that 95 per cent, of the population of Dunedin will be grievously disappointed if the whole area of the reclamation is not retained as a sports ground. As far as I have been able to gauge public opinion, there is not any appreciable desire to disregard the legitimate claims of a not inconsiderable and withal progressive part of tho city for expansion in matters educational. If tho choice of a location for tho Exhibition had fallen on any portion of Dunedin other than Lake Logan i am confident that there would not have been a breath of opposition raised to the apportionment of tho eight acres for the now Albany Street School, as originally laid out by Mr Blair Mason when tho lay-oupt of the board s reclamation area was first reviewed and adopted by the board. Has anything of moment occurred in the interval to warrant the board to denounce its solemn obligation to the Education Board? Certainly not. The prospects of the Exhibition will not be jeopardised in the least degree, as for all practical purposes the entire area of 60 odd acres will be available for the Exhibition, since the education authorities have neither the money nor the inclination at present to enter on a building programme, while I am satisfied that, if approached in a proper spirit, tho University authorities will be content to receive their 20 acres in serviceable ardor when the Exhibition has ceased to be.

No one who is familiar with my actions as a public man will have the hardihood to assert that I have been, or am, indifferent to, or careless of, the claims of the athletic sections of our community for additional accommodation not only in the north end but all oyer tho city. No one complained more bitterly or more frequently than myself of the want ofj vision in this regard on the part of our leading citizens and civic rulers. If but a tithe of the presen tenergy to secure the whole of Logan Park for recreation purposes bad been shown when the fate of the acquisition of the Forburv Park hung in the balance, Dunedin might, to-dav have been possessed at a comparative bagatelle of cost, not only of an ideal site for an Exhibition, but of a playin'? area capable of indefinite possibilities. That, in my humble judgment. was a civic loss that will never bo repaired. The chairman of the Harbour Board in his letter to you. Sir. has demonstrated that .according to the derision of the bofcrd on Monday, the park will contain an acturJ plaving area of 52 acres, exclusive of the eight acres assigned to the Education Board. The ?0 acres, with an appropriate frontage, ceded to the University will bo maintained in perpetuity ns a sports ground, to which free access will he given to the public under reasonable conditions; and (here will remain 32 acres—in area much larger than flip Southern , Oval. Therefore. no fair-minded person can argue that north end interests have been sacrificed in any way in the Harbour Board’s disposition of the whole area.

To return to the exchange of sites. I think it very pertinent to the main issue to the fact that in 1912 a Royal Commission set no +o ’nonfro into and report on the needs of national education in respect to primary, secondary, and technical phases thereof, made a series of important recommendations, most of which have since been approved and endorsed bv action on the pert of the Legislature, On the subject of better provision in tRe ira- of playing areas for our large city schools the commission said, inter alia

The neglect of the provision of playground accommodation in many of the city schools was forcibly impressed upon the commission at all the large centres visited; and, as the health of the children should be the concern of the local authorities, it would be a wise thing to provide for assistance from them towards this object. In future no grant should be given for the erection of a school Uldcss AT LEAST FOUR ACRES OF LAND are available for the site. The capitals are my own. Let me say further. that that commission comprised some of the ablest and most experienced working educationists in the dominion; and their finding in this relation should command general acceptance. But so far the Education Department has not given effect to this recommendation, solely on the ground of the expense involved in acquiring suitable areas at reasonable cost. During my recent tour of the north I had frequent opportunities of -witnessing the evil effects of building big schools without adequate provision for playing areas. Here we have a splendid chance of repairing past mistakes, and it should not be allowed to pass. A modern, up-to-date schoolhouse—if I could have mv way no school should accommodate more than 560 pupils, in order to secure that degree of individual teaching which to-day is regarded as the chief essential of successful instruction—must possess some distinct architectural features, and its construction must have regard to the position it is destined to occupy in ministering to the social and civic needs of the locality it serves. Then the problems of lighting, ventilation, and sanitation have to be studied, and in the solution of these the suitability of location is a most important factor. The agreed-on area of eight acres, with a frontage to the main street of 500 ft, will prevent lop-sidedness, and materially helr> the architect to furnish a schoolhouse that will do credit to the district, will not detract from the amenities of the park, and may supply a model for future guidance. In conclusion, I hone that the contract between the boards will he honourably executed both in letter and spirit, and that these members of the Harbour Board who have opposed its execution will refrain from further opposition. The want of finality in such undertakings is a menace to that loyal co-operation which should mark the activities of all onr local governing bodies. —I am, etc., Mark Cohen.