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| Brother Augustus |
1922
The Dream Takes Shape
·
Three different
designs were considered for the school
building.
·
After much thought, design No.3 (shown below) was accepted as the
facade of the new building.
·
The cost of the
original block was 200,000 Malayan dollars which was met mainly from the
savings of the La Salle Brothers over the previous sixty years.
·
The new edifice was - and still is - a lasting tribute to the
architectural genius and indomitable spirit of Brother Augustus.
·
It is said that
he spent many months observing the sun’s vagarious movements to give the
building a suitable east-west orientation.
·
Generations of
Michaelians owe a great debt of gratitude to this worthy
disciple of St John Baptist De La
Salle for designing and bringing to reality such a majestic edifice .
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·
. The
foundation stone which Monsignor Merel
had blessed was laid on the 7th June 1922 by the British Resident Major C.W.C. Parr, O.B.G in the
presence of a representative gathering. Rev.Bro. Director Augustus gave on the occasion a history of the school in his “ usual breezy
style”. The British Resident spoke in praise of the Brothers and wished St
Michael’s success.
·
The new edifice was the pride of the
Kinta Valley, the world’s tin capital of that time. Mr R.O.Windstedt,
Director-General of Education (1920s) in his report described the school
building in glowing terms as “ one of
the most ideal he had seen”.
·
The completed building was blessed by
Father Coppin on the Feast Day of St.John Baptist De La Salle,15 May 1923.
·
Francis Brown in his book “Lasalle
Brothers :Malaya-Singapore 1852-1952” describes the architectural style of the
building:
"The design was strongly
ecclesiastical in feeling, in the Gothic
vernacular, simple in its detailing, while the strong horizontal lines were balanced by the vertical gabled projections from the main building.One
cannot but be impressed
by the view of this magnificent building, 177 metres in length.”
· Designed by Brother
Vernier Augustus , it was completed in stages over a period of some thirty
years.
(Excerpt from "Valiant & True" - the Michaelian Centennial Magazine available from the office of SMK St Michael,Ipoh,Malaysai ( 05-2540418)
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| The original core of the new Gothic-style architecture designed by Brother Augustus |
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| Brother Augustus seen on "Lizzie" the official limousine! |
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| The original core of the new complex 1923 Quis ut Deus |
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