A 14-year-old pupil at Blackrock College in Dublin is campaigning against plans to demolish the school's landmark Jubilee Hall. David Watchorn said the school authorities have "a terribly out-dated view of old buildings".
The hall, which occupies a prominent site beside the playing fields, was completed in 1914 to mark Blackrock College's 60th anniversary. With its mullioned old English Gothic-style windows, sweeping granite steps and "toothpick" battlements, it evokes images of the playing fields of Eton.
Internally, it has a fine wrought-iron balustraded gallery under a vaulted ceiling. It was last used in January to stage West Side Story, in a joint production with Mount Anville convent.
Over the past 86 years, as the show's director, Mr Toirleach O'Brien noted in the programme, the Jubilee Hall "has been the cultural heart of the college, having been the venue for musicals, concerts, art exhibitions, plays and debates".
What startled parents and students attending the show, according to David Watchorn, was Mr O'Brien's admission that the neo-Gothic battlemented building was "scheduled to be demolished and replaced by a new, more functional centre".
The young critic has since been writing letters to An Taisce, the Irish Georgian Society and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in an effort to engage their interest in saving the Jubilee Hall, which is not listed for preservation.
"How could they knock it down? They try to teach us to look after our heritage and be proud of it and right here in the school they're destroying it," he said. "I just think that's really hypocritical and I can't believe they're doing it. an Casey, referred to some of the older buildings, saying: "You can't put laptops in there."
"It's not just the building itself. If they put anything new in its place, the effect it would have on the old square would be really bad. It's also the most visible building from Rock Road and is essential to the character of the college," David said.
The college's president, Father Sean Casey, said that "no absolute, final decision" had yet been taken to demolish the hall, but the likelihood was that it would be replaced by a contemporary structure.
Father Casey said the process of replanning the college's facilities was under way when he returned to Blackrock last year after spending five years as president of Rockwell College.
While everyone would love to hold on to the Jubilee Hall, it was an old building that had already required quite a lot of repair. "In this day and age, I'm sure it wouldn't pass any tests," he said.
Father Casey said the college's architect, Mr Jim Coady, who was appointed following a limited competition last year, was very conscious of the need to preserve the style of the old quadrangle in designing new high-tech classrooms.
He said many of the mid-19th century buildings used for teaching were "very old and unsound", mainly because the college could not afford to maintain them. "We've been living from hand to mouth over the years and laicisation has added to our costs."
Mr Coady agreed that much of the existing building stock in Blackrock College was "under some distress". But he said three listed buildings, including the original Casledawson House, would be "fully restored and enhanced" under the master plan.
The Jubilee Hall, however, would be replaced by a larger building to provide a flexible multi-purpose theatre, with a better backstage area and flytower, and a new cafeteria for the college at the lower level, where the changing rooms are located.
"We're about to start the architectural design and, by Friday, we will have a target date for a planning application in the autumn.
"What we do know is that the college has a lot of architectural capital and this needs to be fully drawn down in the plan."
Father Casey said all Blackrock College students receive a very wide education. "It's marvellous that youngsters are very vocal in the best sense of word, and that's the way they ought to be," he said.
