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Still, IC made another attempt to expand.
In the late ’70s, IC purchased an aban-
doned British Community school in
Bshamoun.Things were looking up. The
campus was vast and there was ample
space for children to play. An Olympic
size swimming pool was donated by Elie
Sehnaoui ’56. In 1982, on the very day
when the pool was to be inaugurated,
Israel attacked.The school with its yellow
top seemed to be a special attraction to
aircraft bombers.
Once again, another campus was aban-
doned and students brought back to Ras
Beirut. “Nothing we did was working
out,” said Kurban. “It was yet another loss.
It was very frustrating.”
By then, Alton Reynolds was IC’s presi-
dent and his main job was to keep the
school going through a vicious war. Feel-
ings of frustration were running high.
“In such turbulent times, we have been so
overwhelmed with concern for security,
for finances, for providing classrooms
when damages have occurred and campus-
es lost...” Reynolds wrote in 1985 in his
annual letter to graduating seniors.
That same year, Meshref was sold and the
former British embassy at the Cornishe
acquired (Reynolds Building). Elemen-
tary school students were moved there.
Damaged beyond repair, the Bshamoun
campus was sold in 1990.
It soon became clear that the Reynolds
Building had not only become overcrowd-
ed but couldn’t support IC’s revamped state
of the art education. IC still needed to find
a final home. Instead of moving to another
location would AUB sell the campus?
Negotiations with AUB began in 2006
and finally, in 2009, AUB and IC an-
nounced the purchase of the Ras Beirut
IC campus.
The Campaign for Excellence was
launched. Two US architecture firms
which specialize in designing schools were
commissioned. Flansburgh Associates
and Ellenzweig Associates Inc, in a joint
venture with Khatib and Alami, began
designing a new elementary school for IC.
On November 4, 2010 ground was broken
and construction began.
“Sometimes the best solution to a problem
is right where the search first began,” said
IC’s current president, John Johnson. “For
security reasons, the Board decided that it
would be much better to stay in Ras Bei-
rut. Our new buildings will have the same
facilities that we had planned had we gone
elsewhere. And since most of our students
live in Beirut and many are within walk-
ing distance from IC, it is an ideal set up.”
Yes, he agreed, IC has finally found a
home at last.
With historical information provided by
Howard A. Reed in his “A Brief History of
The International College.”
SUMMER
2011
5
Prime Minister Saeb Salam and Thomas
Schuller in Meshref in 1969
The Meshref Campus was completely renovated and is now the Hariri Canadian University.The architecture and the landscaping was so
well planned that administrators kept the buildings and campus exactly as they were.