Douglas Orane (third right), chair of the Wolmer’s Trust Infrastructure Committee, speaks with the Right Reverend Dr Howard Gregory (centre), Diocesan Bishop of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands; while Dr Walton Small (left), principal of Wolmer’s Boys’ School; Lincoln McIntyre (second left), chairman of the Wolmer’s Board of Management; Education Minister Ronald Thwaites (third left); Milton Samuda, chairman of Wolmer’s Trust; and Mathu Joyini (second right), high commissioner of South Africa to Jamaica, look on ahead of yesterday’s dedication of the new Wolmer’s auditorium at the Heroes Circle-located school in Kingston.
When Wolmerians from near and far gathered yesterday to witness the dedication of the new auditorium at the institution, Dr Walton Small, principal of Wolmer's Boys' School, could not hide his joy.
"Yes, ladies and gentlemen! All I wanted was the roof, but this is more than a roof," he shouted to thunderous applause.
Small said he was extremely grateful to see the completion of the auditorium.
"The gentlemen and the staff of this noble institution have been operating without an auditorium for the past 24 years," he said. "The experiences of the young men have been uncomfortable. They experienced standing in the sun and enduring showers of rain."
Small also said the auditorium would bring significant savings to the school as school functions such as graduation will no longer be held elsewhere.
The dedication of the auditorium, carried out by The Right Reverend Dr Howard Gregory, Diocesan Bishop of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands, represents a culmination of efforts by the Wolmer's Trust to provide a place of assembly for the three schools which operate under its auspices, including Wolmer's Girl's School and Wolmer's Preparatory School.
Chairman of the Wolmer's Trust, Milton Samuda, lauded the efforts of Douglas Orane, who was instrumental in mobilising resources for the construction of the auditorium.
"It was with our recruiting of Douglas Orane to the Trust and with my appointment of him to chair our Infrastructure Committee that our plans took wings," Samuda said.
"Douglas made this his passion and his mission and used his considerable influence to ensure that the funding was raised."
For his part, Orane highlighted the environ-mentally friendly features of the building.
"Our new auditorium is a green building Ö . The building has a water-harvesting system. The building will have installed, on its south facing roof, solar panels which produce enough electricity to meet one-third of the school's energy needs ... . The building also has a modern state-of-the-art waste-disposal system," he said.