Checkpoint 2 - Stewart Building Plaque
This plaque marks the completion of the first phase of the Stewart Memorial Campus, which consists of what we now call the Stewart Building and the Classroom Block. The Stewart Memorial Campus was built in response to the rapidly increasing number of students in St. Paul’s College since it reopened in 1950.
When St. Paul’s College reopened in 1950 on Bonham Road, there were only seven classes in total, with students ranging from Primary 5 to Secondary 2, most of them being students from the Joint College. As the number of students grew steadily in the Primary Section, the number eventually overtook pre-war levels. Even with the addition of Wong Ming Him Hall in 1953, space at the College was inadequate for all the students, teachers, and teaching equipment. Thus, plans for adding new buildings to the Bonham Road site were discussed. In December 1958, Col. E. G. Stewart passed away. Under the leadership of the new principal, the Revd. G. L. Speak, the next four years saw further planning, preparations, fundraising and negotiations related to the construction of the new buildings, which would serve as a memorial to his predecessor's contributions to the College.
(Buildings on the right) Residential buildings on Pokfulam Road
The first phase of the construction was completed at the end of 1964, doubling the capacity of the College and allowed the Secondary Section to expand from two streams to six. The second phase, which included the East Wing and the former Primary School Block (now demolished), was completed in 1969.
If we fast-forward to today, the Classroom Block has remained largely unchanged, housing the College’s Form 1–5 students. Yet the rooms of the Stewart Building have changed quite a lot - The Stewart Building used to be known as the ‘Administrative Block’. The College’s offices and staff rooms used to be there too, including the Principal’s Office. These were later changed into various other rooms (e.g. tutorial rooms, the ceramic studio, etc.) after the completion of the South Wing in 2006. Additionally, the current location of the Geography Room on the seventh floor once served as the Prefects’ Council Room and the Library. However, the locations of the College Chapel and the College Hall have remained unchanged since the 1960s, and the upper reaches of the Stewart Building have always housed the Sixth Form students. That said, the Stewart Building and the Classroom Block have undergone extensive renovation work over the years, resulting in an appearance that gives them a modern touch.
This calligraphy work displays the current College motto「寅畏上主是爲智之本」, translated as ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ / ‘Timor Domini principium sapientiæ.’ (Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10). The motto was adopted in 1909 by the then principal the Revd. A. D. Stewart. Before that, the motto of St. Paul’s College was「恭敬天主，愛人如己」(‘Hold high the Lord your God, and love your neighbour as yourself’), which can still be seen at the Glenealy campus.
At the time, the norm for choosing a motto for a Christian school was to choose one in either English or Latin. For a Christian school to adopt a motto in Chinese was a very rare occurrence. The reason for choosing a motto in Chinese was to emphasise the role of St. Paul's College as an Anglo-Chinese school acting as a bridge between East and West. The calligraphic work was done by Mr Ho Hon Chiu, a former Chinese teacher of the College, in 2011.