NEW INGLEWOOD SCHOOL

Taranaki Daily News, 20 July 1933, Page 3

NEW INGLEWOOD SCHOOL

NEED URGED BY COMMITTEE

BOARD RECOGNISES THE POSITION.

■V. FINANCE QUESTION A DIFFICULTY.

A request that the Taranaki Education Board renew its application for a. new school at Inglewood and bring its powers to bear to have the project carried out immediately was made to the board by the Inglewood school committee yesterday. That the claim was justified was admitted by the board, but it was stated that finance was the primary consideration, and it was decided that the application be deferred pending inquiries being made from the Education Department whether any funds could be made available this current year and if so approximately what amounts ‘would be for new buildings, additions and remodelling. , . The present buildings were in a very bad state of disrepair, wrote the school committee. It appeared as if the cost of repairs would be an ever-increasing and expensive item without producing satisfactory results. The school was unhygienic, the heating arrangements being so poor that only rarely was it possible to get the roms sufficiently heated. The buildings were badly, placed from the point of view of sunshine. Playing space was small for the number of children in the school and the whole site was low-lying and unsuitable for a school. At present the committee was faced with the care of the new school site, maintenance work there in connection with improvements carried out being beyond the means of the committee, with the result that the committee had had to ask the board to take the care of the new site off its hands. The committee suggested that the department be asked to take advantage of the new building subsidy given by the Unemployment Board. The saving in labour costs coupled with the present cheapness of materials would make the immediate erection of the school a sound economic proposition. ARCHITECTS ADVICE. “Instead of spending any more money on maintenance at the Inglewo.od school,” reported the architect (Mr. C. H.' Moore), “I would suggest the time is now opportune for the board to reconsider the position with a view to making application to the department to build a new school under the subsidised wages scheme. I made an inspection of this building again the other day and there is no doubt that the whole structure is fast getting worse. It is warped and twisted more or less all ways; - decay is showing in many places. One • very bad feature in the interest of the children and teachers is the unsuitability of the classrooms. The original school was erected nearly 50 years ago and has now become antiquated and obsolete in every way. There is a limit to legitimate maintenance work on buildings such as this.” The chairman (Mr. S. G. Smith). said he thought the claim was justified but the whole question was one of finance. It should be deferred pending receipt' of information from the department regarding the amount of money available for Taranaki for the year in the order of funds for new buildings, additions and remodelling. ' . '. /' ■ t? In reply to a question Mr. W. H. Jones expressed the opinion that labour costs in the erection of a school , would be about a quarter of the total cost, so that the subsidy under the building plan subsidised by the Unempoylment Board would be equal to about one-twelfth of 1 the cost. • The Inglewood school was a job that should be done and it should not come under any relief work scheme at all, said Mr. Smith. Deferment of consider--' ation of the request would also give time for consideration ..of the larger question of a high school.

When consideration was given to the architect’s report it was decided to place the erection of a new Inglewood school at a cost of ; £5292 first on the list of projected w’orks in order of urgency instead - of sixth as it was previously.