Osu Salem preserves old school buildings
The Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust has assisted the Osu Salem Old Boys Association with GH¢15,000 as start-up money to help in the preservation of old buildings in the Osu Salem School in Accra.
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The Trust has the responsibility to preserve historical monuments and wildlife in the country, and works hand-in-hand with the Ghana Museum and Monuments Board and the Forestry Commission.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic during a visit to the school, the Executive Director of the Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust, Mr Francis Dontoh Cobbinah, said before the Trust took the decision to preserve any building, it took into consideration the architectural design, age, location and history of the building.
He said although the support they were giving was below the estimated GH¢561,360 needed to renovate and preserve the building, the amount should be able to maintain the structure and also preserve it from further deterioration.
The Chairman of the Osu Salem Old Boys Association, Mr Daniel Edmund Abbey, said some of the buildings in the school were of importance to the people of Osu and Ghana as a whole; as such the old boys could not look on unconcerned while they deteriorated.
He expressed his profound gratitude for the gesture. He said the old buildings in the school deserved to be preserved as they embodied the feelings of the colonial times and cultural heritage of the school.
He said it was in these settings that the school had trained a lot of Ghanaians who were contributing meaningfully to the growth of the country.
He explained that the decision to conserve the buildings was taken after thorough inspection by officers from the Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust, which expressed their satisfaction and agreed to help fund the conservation of the buildings.
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He urged other corporate institutions to come forward just as the Trust had done to conserve other notable structures in the country, stating that “if all old buildings are allowed to go down completely, a part of Ghana's history would be lost.”