From the
Board We were pleased to officially open the new Gymnasium and the Askin Pipe Band Centre at the end of the first term. The opening ceremony marked an important milestone in the history and development of St Andrew’s College. The Rector provided a fascinating account of many of the notable sporting and Pipe Band personalities who have passed through the College. It was an honour to welcome former Rector, Mr Barry Maister, back to the College. I have vivid memories of Barry coaching hockey during his Rectorship on the Preparatory School netball court in the late 1990s. It was a confined space, with a tatty surface caused by overuse. The broken windows and relentless pounding of balls against the old Preparatory School walls will not be missed. When I reflect upon the training facilities that were available at the time there is a sense of enormous satisfaction with the quality of facilities offered to students today. The Rector thanked a number of people at the opening ceremony and I would like to single out and thank a few again. We thank Bushnell Builders for the Askin Pipe Band Centre, and Hawkins for the Gymnasium. Both projects were delivered on budget and on time despite the difficult ground conditions. We thank Tony Hoare and Alun Wilkie and their design team for listening to the end
users and sympathetically designing these impressive facilities. We also offer thanks to Mr David Evans, Mr Geoff Stanton, Mr Richard Hawke, Rawlinsons Quantity Surveyors, all of the engineers, and other key staff. They made for a great team and can be justly proud of the outcomes. It is now over five years since the destructive earthquakes. Those events caused the Board to rethink the Capital Works P100 Master Plan, which at the time included a new Band Room, and the first stage of a state-of-the-art Sports and Cultural precinct, both planned to be completed in time for the College centenary. We did it. We are immensely proud to have achieved this, both in light of the disruption, and the need to attend to other urgent priorities. The Board remains fully committed to providing world-class facilities for all students. We hope that they gain much enjoyment from the new Band Room, the impressive Gymnasium and new classrooms, and we look forward to seeing the results which will inevitably follow.
Garry Moore Chairman
Tony Hoare (Architect, Wilkie and Bruce) with David Evans (General Manager) and Conrad Hinchey (Project Manager, Hawkins) outside Gym 2.
