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The students hostels and staff houses are all in need of rebuilding and therefore I hope that the expenditure that is at present being incurred for their repair is going to be very closely watched. The monstrous house that I inhabited is towards the middle of what, it is agreed, should be the central area of the University - where, in fact, when rebuilding comes, the new main building should be. The other staff houses are almost as wasteful of space as the Vice-Chancellor's house. Even before the war there was accommodation for only about half of our European staff. The Hostels were overcrowded and, even with the supplementary accommodation given by Jesuit, C. M. S. and L. M. S. hostels, we were very short of · accommodation. Even if the University's three existing hostels were thoroughly repaired and replanned we should still immediately leed at least one additional hostel for men and one to accommodate about 60 women. If the Missions do not rebuild we shall have to Increase the hostel accommodation directly controlled by the University. Before the war we were discussing the building of a block of about 2 good flats for members of staff. This is a project for early ompletion. I would like to see at the same time plans prepared for I new (much more modest) house for the Vice-Chancellor and houses for .O senior members of the staff, and at the same time the demolition f existing houses, as alternative accommodation becomes available, so that the new central area may be prepared for building, and the new road system taken in hand. The Students' Union building would form in element in this part of the scheme. I should be disposed to ask the University to consider the desirability of erecting an adequate Inion building embodying the existing gymnasium in which incidentally vastes a first rate site on what is hardly more than a shed.
All this is my contribution to a very considerable cut of our request for £600,000 for new buildings. At a guess it would reduce ›ur demand by not much less than half- though only. by postponement. Briefly the proposals are:
[I.
Retentions
1. retain and recondition existing main building for Arts,
Library, Administration, (reconditioning would cost something of course).
2. retain existing Pathology, Physiology and Anatomy buildings
for another 20 years - recondition them for Physiology, Pathology and Biochemistry.
3. retain with small extension the existing Chinese Library
and Chinese Schoo1.
4. retain Engineering workshop and laboratories.
5% retain but reconstruct three men's hostels.
Demolitions.
1. Surgery laboratories
2. Vice-Chancellor's house
3. Student's Union.