Wesley College celebrated its deep-rooted sporting heritage on Thursday with a grand re-opening of its 127-year-old restored Pavilion at the College ground Campbell Park amid a distinguished gathering.
Former Wesley and Ceylon cricketer L.R. ‘Lucky’ Goonetilleke, considered to be one of the best left-arm fast bowlers the country has ever produced, graced the occasion as chief guest.
Believed to have been built in the late 1890s with archeological value and a history resembling an English country clubhouse, the pavilion was inaugurated in January 1940 by old boy G.C.S. Corea, then Minister of Labour, Industries and Commerce. The then Vice Principal P.H. Nonis played a crucial part in procuring both Campbell Park and the pavilion.
The pavilion restoration project is a part of Wesley College’s 150th-year Sesquicentennial celebrations and initiated by the Old Boys Union spearheaded by Capt. Navin de Silva with meticulous supervision of the three pillars of the Pavilion Restoration Project Committee including Project Chairman Ivor Maharoof, Secretary Shehan Sheriff and Treasurer S. Renganathan.
The Committee comprised Fahad Nazir, Raveen Wijesekera, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Wickramaratne, K. Dayaparan, Gerard Fernando, William Deutrom, Avanka Fernando – Principal, L.R. Goonetilleke, Murad Ismail – Chartered Architect, L.C.R. Wijesinghe, M.F. Amith – Licentiate Architect, Maj. Gen. Indu Samarakoone, Maithri Vithanage and Col. Rizan Hamidon – Prefect of Games.
Rev. Kingsley Weerasinghe – President, Methodist Church of Sri Lanka, Principal of the College Avanka Fernando, Director of St. Benedict’s College Rev. Bro. (Dr) Pubudu Rajapakse attended the event.
Former national cricketer Michael Tissera and former Double International Chandra Schaffter were special invitees at the event. Wesley’s Ian K. Karan (Diamond Donor), Bertie Ekanaike (Old boy of St. John’s College Nugegoda, Donor) and St. Benedict’s College OBU representatives were also part of the celebrations.
Wesley’s senior-most cricketers B.M.N. Jurangpathy and M.N. Samsudeen also graced the occasion.
