Restoration of the iconic Clock Tower Building of St. Benedict’s College

‘Let’s rise to reignite a legacy’ is the call going out to all Benedictines, as the Old Boys Union of St.Benedict’s College launched the Clock Tower Restoration Project on last Sunday, with a simple ceremony beginning with Holy Mass at the College Auditorium.

Steeped in more than 120 years of history, the Clock Tower Building holds within its pillars a memory for every Benedictine, young and old, who graces the grounds of this St. Benedict’s College, the Mother of all Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Colombo.

St.Benedict College is presently on a mission to regain its rightful position, within the educational sphere of Sri Lanka, under the direction of youthful Rev. Bro. Pubudu Rajapaksha, and Primary School Sub Director Rev. Bro. Pravin Vaz. During its 156 years of existence (without counting 26 years of its forerunner Roman Catholic Seminary in Hultsdorf), the alumni of St. Benedict’s College have been some of the most eminent personalities in both religious and secular fields. The present school management is deeply committed to continue this tradition by the present and future generations of Benedictines.

The Clock Tower Restoration project aims to restore the elegance and the beauty of this iconic building, whilst equipping it with the most modern state of the art facilities to enable the students of St. Benedict’s College to strive for excellence in all areas of education. The project will develop the existing resources and infrastructure facilities to provide young Benedictines with the latest technology, whilst creating a healthy learning environment, keeping step with the strategic plan of St. Benedict’s College, which is currently being communicated to all stakeholders of the college.

The magnificent Clock Tower Building still stands out as you enter through the gates of St. Benedict’s College, through several other buildings have come up since. This building is the legacy left behind by Rev. Bro. Cassian of Jesus (formerly Joseph Perumal), an Old Benedictine and one of the first Ceylonese to join De La Salle Order, which took over the management of St. Benedict’s College from Benedictine Fathers in 1868.

Rev. Bro. Cassian, who served his Alma Mater in many capacities ranging from class teacher to sub director was the architect and builder of this monumental structure at the turn of the 19th century. To his eternal credit, there is still not a single crack in its walls and the wooden floor is fully intact. Rev. Bro. Cassian remained at St. Benedict’s College throughout his entire religious and teaching career spanning 42 years from 1870 to 1912. The restored building will be dedicated to the memory of this most revered Christian Brother, who already has a house named after him. All Cassianites will be delighted to learn of this praiseworthy project.

There lies a very interesting story about the clocks that adorn this building. It was a gift from A. N. de Silva in memory of his father Philip de Silva, former Registrar and President of St. Lucia’s Cathedral and Mupu of St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade. History records that A. N. de Silva and his wife had come to St. Lucia’s Cathedral for an important wedding anniversary of theirs and found the cathedral choir nowhere to be seen.

Seeing their discomfiture, the good brothers of St. Benedict’s led by Bro. Remegius filled the void. Extremely pleased with their kind gesture, A. N. de Silva personally expressed his thanks to the brothers and inquired of Sub Director Bro. Cassian as to how he could repay their kindness. The resourceful Bro. Cassian pointed to Clock Tower Building sans clocks. It was not too extravagant a request for the great man. He brought down the clocks all the way from Paris and installed them at St. Benedict’s College in 1905.

The First Floor of the restored building will have a state of the art ICT centre to facilitate 45 students, a user friendly digital and physical library, a modern learning centre to facilitate group learning and discussions, a beautiful lounge area for brainstorming and ideation and the archives. The lounge area will also be the ideal place for visitors to get a taste of the Benedictine Spirit. The ground floor will have the gymnasium with additional equipment, an injury treatment facility added on to the power gym, the Oriental dancing floor, book shop, medical centre, areas for scouts and cadets and the staff room.

An initiative of the St. Benedict’s College Old Boys Union, the project committee is chaired by the distinguished and loyal Old Benedictine Rohan de Silva, Chairman of Mclarens Group of Companies with Priyal Perera, General Secretary of the SBC Old Boys Union and Roshan Samaratunge, Treasurer of the Interim Committee of the SBC Welfare Society serving as Secretary and Treasurer of the project. Technical Services are provided by Design Professionals Chartered Architects and the project is expected to be completed in nine months.

The Clock Tower Restoration project aims to restore the elegance and the beauty of this iconic building, whilst equipping it with the most modern state of the art facilities to enable the students of St. Benedict’s College to strive for excellence in all areas of education.