One of PJ’s happiest and proudest days
FORMER Prime Minister P J Patterson expressed joy on Tuesday as his alma mater, Calabar High School, officially opened its newly constructed entrance named in his honour.
“This is one of the happiest and proudest days in my entire life,” said Patterson who graduated from Calabar in 1958, having attended the famous school on a Purscell Trust Scholarship.
The PJ Patterson entrance was constructed with financial support from the Calabar Old Boys’ Association at a cost of $17 million.
Patterson, who was among the first group of students to attend the school when it moved from Studley Park to Red Hills Road 70 years ago, said he always had a vision of improving the entrance.
“I was determined that at some point we should have a gate, not just for its architectural impressiveness but as a symbol. To paraphrase the words written about Lord Nelson, ‘Those who enter these premises should never forget our glory,’ ” said Patterson who served as Jamaica’s sixth prime minister from 1992 to 2006, after which he retired from active politics following a long and illustrious career as a legislator and statesman.
Calabar High Principal Albert Corcho said people are now using the gate as a landmark on Red Hills Road.
“It is indeed a pleasure as administrators to walk through this gate, and every day that we come we remind our young men that this monument is an indication of what we expect from all of you. Once you hit the gate we expect that you will remember what it all stands for…We believe that the monument will indeed continue to be a beacon for all the young men at Calabar and all those who will pass through,” he said.
Corcho told the Jamaica Observer that apart from its design, the gate has reduced congestion and improved student drop-off.
“If you remember the old gate, there was one way in. What we have done was widen the space and we have also created a drop-off area because of the gate, and so it has helped significantly to reduce the congestion. It has worked to our benefit and the benefit of motorists on Red Hills Road,” he declared.
Also on Tuesday, a plaque in memory of late old boy Reverend Dr Horace Russell was unveiled.
Russell, who passed last year, served as chaplain of Calabar and was remembered for his intellectual prowess and significant contribution to theology across the Caribbean.
