Update on the Pavilion at St. Stephen’s College Preparatory School
As a result of continued high demand for quality education offered by St. Stephen’s College Preparatory School (“SSCPS”), a proposal has been put forward by the College Council to construct a new building to allow additional intake of students in the future (“Proposal”).
The College Council has identified two potential sites and has engaged a professional architect firm to conduct a survey to assess the suitability of each of the sites. The report recommended the site where the St. Stephen’s College Alumni Association Pavilion (“Pavilion”) currently resides as the most suitable location.
SSCAA would like to take this opportunity to present the background of the Pavilion and also share the plans of the College council on the Proposal:
- Ownership of the land where the Pavilion is built belongs to the Government.
- The right to use the land has been granted by the Government to the St. Stephen’s College for school-related purpose.
- With the initiation and support of some dedicated alumni, funds were raised for the construction of the Pavilion with the objective of having a dedicated venue with facilities for alumni to enjoy.
- As a result of normal deterioration of the building structure over the years and concerns over security, SSCAA has given the operation of the Pavilion to the SSCPS in early 1994. SSCAA members continue to be able to use the barbeque pits at the Pavilion after the handover of the operations of the Pavilion.
- However, the cost of maintaining the premise remains significant and the building has not been fully utilized.
- Together with the professional architect report’s recommendation, the College council has proposed to demolish the existing building and construct a new building to cater for more students intake.
- While SSCAA is supportive of the idea of expanding the school’s facilities to accommodate more students in the future to join our family, we have also expressed that some alumni may have concerns on choosing the Pavilion site.
- We have requested that recognition be made to alumni that have generously made donations to the construction of the Pavilion, and that we hope there could be other facilities provided by the College made available for members of the SSCAA to enjoy.
- The College has acknowledged this concern and will include an alumni gallery in the new building for this purpose.
I hope that this clarifies the background of the Pavilion and also provides information on the future plan of the College with regards to the site. We will continue to provide updates on the development and we welcome alumni who would like to share their comments to email sscaa@sscaa.org
