The role Berkeley Institute in shaping Bermuda for 104 years was heralded by Premier Alex Scott as he spoke of the closing of the old school building and the gathering of hundreds of former students and teachers this week to mark the occasion.

But as the old school closes a new Berkeley Institute prepares to open on the opposite side of the road and it will continue the ?heart and soul? of the former school, said the Premier.

Recognising much has been said about the building of the new school, a reference to the lengthy delays in completing the project and the budget that has gone from an estimate of $70 million to around $120 million, Mr. Scott said it was time to get behind the new school and the students who will enter in September.

He was one of those who attended the special gathering to mark the closure of the old school and in the House of Assembly said: ?It is not just another school; history says it is an exceptional institution. ?Many of our present and past leaders of Government, education and business can trace their roots back to the hallowed halls of The Berkeley Institute.?

Mr. Scott?s great grandfather John Henry Thomas Jackson ? who in 1886 was the second black man to be inducted into Bermuda?s Parliament ? was a Berkeley founding father. The Premier said the closing of the old school was ?the closing of one chapter; a turning of a page; the passing of the torch; and thereby the continuation of the legacy; the sustaining of the dream of the founding fathers? vision for their country, our country ? which some day will become a nation?.

He went on: ?It is now time to let go of the old Berkeley. It lives in a place that appeals to the best in each of us. It has a heart, it has a soul and it will never die because it is going to enter the heart and soul of the next generation and the one after that and so on.?

Mr. Scott said the Berkeley Institute represented ?generations of future success?.

The Premier said: ?Much has been said about that new structure and much of it has not been positive. ?It is now for each and every one of us to claim that school and encourage the success of those who will enter it ? to do otherwise is to discourage the future leaders, teachers, welders, mechanics, chefs, captains, and CEOs of Bermuda from reaching their fullest potential.?