PALMERSTON CENTRAL SCHOOL IS CLOSED

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 86, 20 March 1931, Page 5

PALMERSTON CENTRAL SCHOOL IS CLOSED

UNSAFE IN CASE OF EARTHQUAKE

CEILING LIABLE TO COLLAPSE Press Association. —Copyright. PALMERSTON N„ This Day. In accordance with instructions received from the Wanganui Education Board, the Palmerston North Central School has been closed down. Shortly after the recent heavy earthquakes rumours regarding the safety of the school buildings were in circulation, hut a report was submitted to the commitee that the building had been undamaged by the quakes. The Wanganui Education Board decided, however, upon receipt of the architect’s report on the condition of the structure, to vacate the building immediately. The sanction of the Minister of Education was obtained and instructions were issued accordingly. It is understood that the school assembly hall offers a grave source of danger in that rolled steel joists, weighing some sixty tons, are supported only by resting on brickwork. A. movement of four inches, it is estimated, would be sufficient to cause the ceiling to collapse. In addition, the stairways and the lower exits present a difficulty in,the matter of a speedy evacuation of a school containing between 500 and 4 60() pupils.