Old Boy rebuilds Woodridge
Former pupil leads R120m revamp after fire damage
‘We are currently in the regreening phase, planting trees, putting on roofs on some of the buildings’
FEW are given the opportunity to repay their alma mater when adversity strikes, and that’s exactly what project manager for the Woodridge College and Preparatory School rebuild programme, Ray Holmes, was able to do after being commissioned to oversee a R120-million upgrade.
Woodridge College was ravaged by veld fires which swept through the Kouga and Nelson Mandela Bay regions in June last year, destroying about 50% of the school’s facilities, principal Derek Bradley said.
But a little over 10 months and the revamped school is nearing completion, with hostel pupils returning to their new rooms this week and staff going back to homes.
This comes as a result of the tireless work of 1976 Woodridge matriculant, Holmes, and his team of about 400 workers.
Among the buildings destroyed were 13 staff houses and flats, three classrooms and the girls’ hostel at the preparatory section, which accommodated 29 pupils.
Also gutted in the fires were six classrooms and offices at the college, the dining hall, kitchen and the administration building, which housed the finance department, school records and the principal’s office. The library was also destroyed.
Holmes said the most “miraculous” takeout from the fire was the older wooden structures on campus, including the preparatory’s admin block which was built in 1870 as the Woodridge Hotel.
“It really is incredible that embers would jump a distance of more than 100m burning all the buildings around the older more historic buildings, including the hotel the 1870 post office and the Kohler and Strack hostel wooden bungalows,” he said.
The deadline for the project is June 25 with 16 new staff homes, assembly hall, music and drama building, kitchen and dining hall, girls and boys hostels, 15 classrooms, hospital and library all being completed in less than a year.
“We are currently in the regreening phase, planting trees, putting on roofs on some of the buildings and beautifying the campus and that does so much psychologically for the pupils and staff,” Holmes said.
“To see where we came from and now being so close to our new vision its really exciting. Particularly welcoming the pupils to Kohler house where I too was housed in the same wooden Bungalows from the 1970s.”
Woodridge Preparatory School Principal Trevor von Berg encapsulated the feeling of excitement:
“You can feel the sense of excitement, like just before Christmas you can see the presents under the tree but you can’t open them till the next day.”
Bradley who had only been principal at the college for little over a month when the fire struck, said the school would rise stronger from this experience.
“This has truly united the Woodridge community from pupils, staff, alumni and parents.
“Through the midst of all this devastation a camaraderie has formed through everyone pulling together to achieve this magnificent feat, all within a year,” Bradley said.