Work on this building was done in line with Government policy of replacing or structurally upgrading recognised earthquake risk buildings of unreinforced
brick masonry. The building has little 
of special architectural merit and is
 not of any historical significance, frequent reasons for strengthening
 rather than replacing. In that regard,
 it would be a special case. The decision to strengthen followed considerable public debate, news media attention and controversy lasting some months and investigations carried out on behalf of the various interested bodies. With regard to Middle School, the contract for upgrading was under the overall control of the Southland Education Board Architectural Branch with the Dunedin District Office, Ministry of
 Works and Development, Structural Division being responsible for the structural concept and design of engineering aspects.