Great Scot September 2018 Gt Scot_154_September_online | Page 63

ABOVE: ACTIVITY IN THE TUCKSHOP IN 1951. BELOW: SATIRICAL SATURA CARTOONS ABOUT THE PROPOSED NEW TUCKSHOP. TOP: FROM THE 15 JUNE 1956 EDITION; BOTTOM: FROM THE 6 AUGUST 1956 EDITION William Shakespeare ‘The authorities are perfectly aware of the inadequacies of the present tuckshop. A new tuckshop has been on the cards for some time, but higher priority items, such as the language lab, have been built instead. Thus, the funds from the 1965 building appeal do not now provide for the tuckshop, and it will probably be a couple of years at least before we get one.’ They writer even proffered a sage solution: ‘One possibility that has been envisioned is the conversion of the old gymnasium into a two- storey cafeteria. Thus, instead of just buying food at the tuckshop, it will be possible to eat there in reasonable comfort. No definite plans have yet been made, but the question is being considered, and will eventually be dealt with.’ Nearly 50 years on, the ‘eventually’ has ‘eventually’ arrived! And, as prophesied all those years ago by the astute Satura editorial staff, ‘a completely new tuckshop is the only real solution.’ The Keon-Cohen Dining Hall is named in honour of Colin Henry Keon-Cohen OBE CMG (‘25) who left his estate as a bequest to Scotch on his death in 1982. This bequest essentially seed funded the Scotch College Endowment Fund, which today is worth $11M. Vice Captain of Monash House, and a 1925 prefect, Colin graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws. A solicitor in civilian life, he served in Singapore, Malaya and New Guinea in World War II. Colin was awarded the OBE in 1969 for service to ex-servicemen, and in 1980 he received the CMG for services to returned servicemen in Victoria. Over time, the Keon-Cohen Building has served as the Senior School Gymnasium (1922-83), the first computer centre (1984-93) and, most recently, the Design and Technology Centre. The Keon-Cohen Dining Hall will be more, though, than a modern replacement for the aged tuckshop: it will form the centrepiece of a new student precinct in the Senior School, interplaying with everything that sits around it, including the square, the House Home Rooms, the main Quadrangle and the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre for Science. Satura’s prediction was spot on in many respects, even if the timeframe was out by nearly half a century. A ‘couple of years’ in the making — unfortunately not — but the Keon-Cohen Dining Hall will transform the daily lives and interactions of Scotch boys and staff, and we can hardly wait for it to happen! PATTY WALLACE-SMITH — DEVELOPMENT OFFICE TO SUPPORT THIS IMPORTANT PROJECT CONTACT DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT TIM SHEARER BY PHONE ON [phone] OR EMAIL [email protected] www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot 63