ST. LOUIS SCHOOL GETS $1 MILLION
Foundation donates $5.2M for Saint Louis School tech center
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
| |||
 |
|
||
The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation will donate $5.2 million to Saint Louis School to go toward the construction of a three-story learning and technology center on the school's campus.
The contribution is the largest single donation to the school and the largest handed out by the foundation. The gift will be formally announced today at a news conference.
Walter Kirimitsu, Saint Louis president, said the contribution marks a "milestone" for the school.
"This is especially important to Saint Louis because this three-story building is dedicated toward classrooms, technology, music and art, so it all goes for our academic program and to the improvement of our academic curriculum and offerings to our students," Kirimitsu said. "This gift is so significant because it allows us to build a learning center that would improve our overall academic program, which will ultimately benefit all of our students present and future."
Most of the $5.2 million will be used as seed money to construct the $12 million facility, which will be called The Clarence T.C. Ching Learning & Technology Center. Kirimitsu said Saint Louis needs to raise $6 million more to fund the project.
The school expects to break ground on the 27,000-square-foot building next summer and it is scheduled to be completed in 2011.
Once completed, the Ching Center will house:
The remaining $200,000 will go to The Clarence T.C. Ching Scholarship, which was established in 1991 by Ching's nephew, Raymond Tam, and other family members. Four academic year scholarships will be awarded annually to 6th-, 7th-, 8th- and 8th-grade Saint Louis students. A full-tuition scholarship also will be awarded to a sophomore for the duration of his junior and senior years.
Kirimitsu said the school also is hopeful that the added facilities will lead to an increase in enrollment at the all-boys school. Currently, 720 students are enrolled in grades 4 through 12, but he said enrollment has been declining because of the economy and increased competition from other schools.
"It's going to be an almost natural result that once we build this learning and technology center, it will improve our overall facilities, which in turn will improve our overall learning environment, which should attract more students to apply and enroll at Saint Louis," he said.
This year, the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation has donated more than $25 million to various organizations. The University of Hawai'i, Chaminade University and Catholic Charities each received $5 million. Maryknoll School was presented a $3 million gift and the Palolo Chinese Home $2 million.
The $135 million foundation was created by developer Clarence Ching in 1967 and is the state's third-largest foundation. Ching, a 1932 Saint Louis graduate, built the Kukui Garden housing complex, which was recently sold for $131 million.
"It's going to be an almost natural result that once we build this learning and technology center, it will improve our overall facilities, which in turn will improve our overall learning environment, which should attract more students to apply and enroll at Saint Louis."
Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
