St Ignatius School Restoration

The old St Ignatius School in Shanghai which was on the Hungjao Road (Hongqiao Road) and just outside the French Concession is getting a make over. The outside renovation actually doesn’t look too disastrous at the moment but hard to tell how much has been preserved of the interior (the history of building refurbishment in Shanghai suggests ‘little to none’ would be the best guess – just think of disgusting interior abortion jobs like 3 on the Bund). What exactly is going to be done with the building as regards use after the restoration I have no idea – and nor did any of the migrant workers on the site. There is a new school next door so probably it won’t be used for educational purposes – as this is Shanghai I expect to see a sign appearing soon saying something like – ‘Luxury, Lifestyle, Upmarket, Rich’ etc etc and yet more luxury shops and restaurants with piled food!!

The entire frontage of the building

the former main entrance in the middle of the frontage

Some old and emblem-ed gates – don’t expect these will ultimately survive the ‘refurbishment’

Some nice original stone detailing that hopefully will survive and looks excellent