The present two storeyed office of the Sri Lanka Council for the Blind which is located at No 50 B, Sarana Mawatha, Rajagiriya was declared open by Mr and Mrs John Van Dijck on the 18th of January 2015 at the auspicious moment of 10.00 am. Previously, the office was located at No 74, Church Street, Colombo 02. The SLCB had longed for many years to move into a more conducive environment from the dilapidated building belonging to the Colombo Municipal Council.

In 1992, the 16.5 perch plot of land was leased to the SLCB by the Urban Development Authority on the recommendation of her Excellency the President Madam Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in response to the plea made by the SLCB. However, due to the inability to raise funds to construct a building, the land remained untouched for over two decades. In the end, the SLCB was compelled though reluctantly, to sell part of the property at No 35/3,Pamunuwila Road, Makola South, Makola, a land generously donated to SLCB by Mr.A.S.Chatoor (1st President) to initiate the construction of the building. The amount of Rs. 7 million obtained by the sale of this land was not adequate to proceed with the construction of the new two storeyed disable friendly building.

MrAmaradasa Gunawardene (President 1987 to 2019) was able to secure Rs. 32 million through his personal acquaintances, Mr and Mrs John Van Dijck of Adoptie Sri Lanka, a voluntary organization in Belgium and Rs 4 million through the President’s Fund.

SLCB is indebted to all who contributed towards making the dream of a new office a reality, particularly to H.E.President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who instructed the Urban Development Authority to lease the land at Rajagiriya to the SLCB, Mr. A.S.Chatoor who donated the land in Makola, Mr and Mrs John Van Dijck of Belgium who funded a large part of the project, H.E.President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena who ungrudgingly allocated funds from the President’s Fund for the final touches, Mr. A.N.Nawaratne who was responsible for the architectural design of the building, Mr. S.L.Hettiarachchi the former Secretary SLCB and Assistant Secretary of SLCB Ms. Mangala Weerasooriya Aracghchige who coordinated the Headquarters Building project, Captain M.G.Kularatne, Chairman and Managing Director of Maga Engineering for overseeing the construction. Thanks to Mr. Gunawardene’s untiring efforts, the SLCB has a disable friendly two storeyed building with an auditorium to continue in its mission of empowering the vision impaired persons of Sri Lanka.

As a mark of Appreciation for their efforts in getting the new Head Office, the SLCB has named the Head Office Building as the John & Line Van Dijck Hall and the Auditorium inside the building as the Amaradasa Gunawardana Auditorium.