- Friday 10 September 2010
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Man makes home in derelict school
THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW: Former Lansdowne School teachers Judith Ewington (left) and Pam McGregor among the wreckage of the new entrants class in which they taught for decades.
Two former Lansdowne Primary School teachers were shocked this week to discover somebody living among the wreckage of a classroom in which they taught for decades.
Pam McGregor and Judith Ewington were overjoyed to learn in a Times-Age story on Wednesday that the Office of Treaty Settlements, in agreement with Maori claimants, had called for tenders to raze the buildings.
Lansdowne Primary School has been the target of arsonists and vandals since it closed after the Ministry of Education Area Network Review in 2003.
Earlier this year, the two women founded a group that gathered together at least 15 residents in the neighbourhood, civic and political representatives, all pushing for the demolition of the ravaged school site.
But imminent success was tempered for the two former teachers, who together worked for decades in the new entrants' classroom, when they discovered that the classroom is now someone's home. The women said they had been aware of a man living and sleeping in an outbuilding at the northern end of the school grounds, evidence of which was discovered by firefighters called to the scene of a deliberately lit blaze in November last year.
But during a recent visit they were shocked to find a mattress and well-used bedding on a cloakroom floor adjoining the class, along with bedside furniture cobbled together from the remains of children's school desks.
Their once ''beloved'' classroom was strewn with unwashed clothing and the remains of window drapes and faded lesson sheets lying among broken glass, together with shattered pieces of wall and ceiling lining and yellowing piles of newspapers.
Ms Ewington said she was was saddened to discover the room was now a haven for somebody who will be left homeless when the school is razed.
The Times-Age had earlier the same day spoken to a middle-aged Maori man who said he was living at the school as a ''matter of right''. He said he provided site security and had inhabited the grounds for a considerable time. He believed his rightful claim to the site prevented any demolition order.
The ministry closed Lansdowne and Totara Drive schools and merged their rolls with Hiona Intermediate to make Lakeview School on the intermediate site on Te Ore Ore Rd.
Cornwall St School was closed and merged with West School, becoming Douglas Park School in Cole St. Also closed was Harley St School, which was merged with Central School to form Masterton Primary School in South Rd.
Harley and Lansdowne soon became frequent targets of arsonists, vandals and thieves, with considerable damage inflicted and chattels and copper fittings stolen.
There have been 10 significant fires at Lansdowne Primary School and at least six substantial blazes at Harley St School _ before its sale last year _ alongwith innumerable vandalism attacks at both sites.
Mrs McGregor, who lives across form the school, said she had conflicting emotions regarding the razing of the school buildings.
''It's been so long. I've had to watch something I once loved go to wrack and ruin. I've watched firefighters and flames over there over and over, and every time it was left even more of an eyesore and became more dangerous,'' Mrs McGregor said.
''Now I know its days are numbered my emotions are really mixed. I really don't know what to think. I need to process things but it really is time something changed, before there's even more regret.''
