ARCHITECT'S COMMENTS

Opunake Times, 22 July 1947, Page 3

ARCHITECT'S COMMENTS

OPUNAKE SCHOOL NEW SCHEME OUTLINED "Apart from the classroom deficiency, staff room, store room and cloak room accommodation is insufficient, lavatory cubicles are inadequate and wrongly situated, control and supervision of the school are difficult, and the whole set-up' is uninspiring and out of keeping with present-day standards," declared the Tarair aki Education Board's architect, Mr. M. G. B. Harvey, in his report on the accommodation problem at the Opunake District High School placed before the board at New Plymouth last Wednesday. With much detail, Mr. Harvey traced the pi-ogress of _ the negotiations for improving the school, and the difficulties that had prevented the original scheme for extending classroom accommodation from being put into effect. A sketch plan and layout of the new proposal was submitted for the board's approval-. Mr. Harvey also reviewed the steps taken to provide the new manual training centre which, he said, was the best centre of its kind erected in Taranaki. Ithad been in occupation since May, 1946. "Meanwhile, with the frequent and disappointing delays, no easing of the permanent accommodation problem has been possible and, to aggravate matters, the attendance has increased considerably and many children now have to be taught in several temporary rooms," said Mr. Harvey. Mr. Harvey then showed in detail the organisation and composition of the school. New Scheme Suggested • "The difficulties today of se(uring certain building materills have been stressed and apart from the doubtful idea of perpetrating a building scheme •w ith additions that can never be a complete architectural success, I believe it would be better for the board to take a bold step and plan a completely new and up-to-date scheme for the high school providing in the present plan the five new classrooms required as well as a library, general purposes room, cloakrooms, storage, head teacher's office, staff room, accommodatidn and so on. Later, the present old building would be removed and new rooms and a laboratory added to the new block and open-air buildings as required. "The provision of new flush lavatories, erected in a position that tics iii with a co-ordinated plan, should also be provided for, and the siting of the future assembly hall-gymnasium should not be lost sight of. "Admittedly, a certain amount of capital already sunk in the existing school would be lost, though a partial recovery could be made by the use of the old buildings elsewhere," he said. Concrete ground improvement would need to be provided again as the new building would be erected over the existing concrete assembly areas. In the past two years, said Mr. Harvey, much discussion had taken place in Taranaki concerning district high schools. One school had been built at Wait.-.ra; another was planned for Okato. For these reasons it was only natural that the Opunake school—which could rightly claim to be the senior district high school in Taranaki—should feel some sense of injured justice that, through no fault of the board, its accommodation needs had not been fully met. Mr. Harvey said lie believed that the proposed scheme, if carried out, would restore local confidence and a greater sense of pride in the school. He reminded the board that, with the demands on labour-and materials today, some delay must be expected in any new building. Satisfactory temporary accommodation must, therefore, be found immediately. The removal to Opunake and reerection of the closed Tuna school would give considerable relief. "Reference has been made in the Press to staff housing at Opunake," said Mr. Harvey. "Tenders for the erection of a new residence for the senior assistant teacher were recently called bv the board and particulars with recommendations were forwarded to the Education Department on June 23. The board has not yet received advice that a tender can be accepted."