Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Spike: or, Victoria College Review, September 1926

The Weir Bequest

page 18

The Weir Bequest

Ever since the opening of the original buildings on "The Old Clay Patch"there have been enthusiasts who looked forward to the day when the College would be able to establish its own hostels, in which students might enjoy the privileges and shoulder the responsibilities of full University life in residential Colleges. We do not under-value those institutions that have been made available to students; they have been of inestimable benefit to many who attend Victoria University College. But we ardently desired university residential colleges. But, keen though the desire was, the large sum of money required for a suitable hostel of University standing was a hurdle that proved unsurmountable. Again and again the problem was considered by College authorities, by the Students' Association, and by the Graduates' Association, but all the proposals were shipwrecked on the rocks of finance.

Quite recently the possibility of obtaining the splendid site belonging to the Hospital Board and leased by the late Mr. Martin Kennedy created renewed interest in the hostel problem. The Government agreed to make a grant of £5,000 towards the purchase of the freehold of the property, and ultimately the College Council decided that, with a somewhat smaller Government grant, it would make itself responsible for the purchase of the western portion of the site. Unfortunately, in the final rush of the Parliamentary session, it was not found possible to put through the legislation that would enable the Hospital Board to part with the freehold.

At this critical point in the negotiations, with the only first-class site in the balance, help came from the clouds. Students of to-day and to-morrow will not need to be reminded of the name of our benefactor, the late Mr. William Weir. Through the influence of good friends of the College, Mr. Weir had become interested in the welfare of our University, and determined that a hostel for men should be provided. His will shows that, after the payment of certain other legacies, the whole of his estate, possibly amounting to £80,000, is left to Victoria University College, not more than one-half of it to be expended in providing a men's hostel, and the income from the other half to be available for the upkeep of the hostel and for general College purposes.

It is a magnificent bequest of a man of large vision, and in the course of the next year or two all obstacles to the erection of the hostel will be removed. But in the meantime we understand that there is a danger that the Hospital Board will proceed with the subdivision of the martin Kennedy site. It is sincerely to be hoped that those in authority will take the big view, will have the wide vision. After such a magnificent legacy to education, for such a necessary and laudable purpose, it will be a lasting stigma on the community if it fails to show due appreciation of the great gift to the people by allowing the one site that is ideally fitted for the purpose to be diverted to other ends. We sincerely trust that the College Council will leave no stone unturned in the effort to obtain this site for what will be known to generations page 19 of students and citizens of Wellington as "Weir College." Our first public recognition of this fine bequest should be to ensure that Weir College can be erected on a site worthy of the generosity of him who has made the hostel possible.