A $33 Million Chapel Paid For by Old Boys in Florida: Cornwall College Dedicates Its Own Place of Worship

• Cornwall College in Montego Bay dedicated a new chapel on September 7, 2014
• The building cost $33 million and seats 120
• Fund-raising by the Old Boys’ Association, led by its Central Florida chapter, paid for it
• Construction began in early 2012 and took more than two years

Cornwall College has a chapel of its own. The Montego Bay boys’ school formally dedicated the new building on Sunday, September 7, 2014, the Jamaica Information Service reported, bringing to an end a construction project that had started in early 2012.

The price tag was $33 million. That money did not come from the Ministry of Education or from a church denomination. According to JIS, it was raised through fund-raising events staged by the Cornwall College Old Boys’ Association, and in particular by the association’s Central Florida Chapter in the United States.

The building is modest in scale but complete: a 120-seat chapel, an office for the chaplain, a secretary’s office and sanitary conveniences. Principal Denham McIntyre and chaplain Reverend Kenroy Salter were among those at the dedication. The family of the late Dr Albert McGann, an old boy, was represented by his widow, Helen McGann, and son, Dominic McGann.

Education Minister Rev Ronald Thwaites was represented by Western Regional Director Hillary Foster, who set out how the space is meant to be used. “This chapel will be a multi-purpose, non-denominational facility…to be the hub of a number of character building programmes,” she said.

The story is a clear example of how Jamaican institutions can finance buildings: not through the state, and not through a single church, but through alumni scattered overseas who are willing to fund bricks and mortar back home. A dedicated worship building on school land also becomes a long-term asset that must be insured, maintained and eventually repaired.

For the diaspora, the lesson is that organised giving works best when it is attached to a specific, visible property with a defined cost. For churches and schools in Jamaica planning a building, the Cornwall model — a clear budget, a committed overseas chapter and a multi-purpose design that serves more than Sunday worship — is one worth studying before the first block is laid.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com