JAMAICA College Foundation broke ground at the Hope Road campus of the all-boys high school on Thursday for a dormitory building with a capacity of 60-70 students.

The three-storey building, which will feature a basement, bathrooms, laundry rooms and storage facilities, will allow Jamaica College to provide lodging to boys in difficult circumstances, and those who travel long distances to school.

The institution was first established as a boarding school, but a lack of funding led to the closure of the boarding facilities.

The new dormitory project is being financed to the tune of $15 million by the ScotiaFoundation and Scotiabank, as well as with contributions from the Matalon family, Butch Hendrickson and R Danny Williams.

“The donation is in honour of the honourable Mayer Matalon, who served on the Scotiabank board for over 45 years,” said Joylene-GRiffaths Irving, director of Corporate Social Responsibility and executive director of ScotiaFoundation.

“Based on his immense contribution to Scotiabank and Jamaica, we thought it appropriate to honour his memory through the support of education and youth development at his alma mater, Jamaica College,” she added.

Matalon resigned from the boards of the Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited and Scotia Group Jamaica Limited in 2011, after having served the bank for close to 45 years, the bank said. That makes him the longest serving board member in the history of Scotiabank Jamaica.