29/07/11 - Work Starts on Newbury College Sports and Construction Skills Centre

The aim is to hand the space back to the college before Christmas. Paul Burchell, Divisional Director of Thomas Vale, says they're trying to keep the disruption on site to a minimum: "The majority of the bulk work, such as ground work and steel erection will take place during the holiday period; ensuring noise is kept to a minimum once the school Autumn Term begins in September. When students come back from their summer break, they will be able to see a framework in place and the cladding and brick work will be ongoing. Access to the site and the movement around the site itself is pretty well ideal. We are really looking forward to working with Newbury College on this project” The new sports hall and skills centre will each be the equivalent size of four badminton courts. The sports hall will be used for a variety of activities including cricket, basketball, netball, hockey, tennis and futsal. The construction skills centre will give College Learners the opportunity to learn a wider range of skills to prepare them for the construction industry. It's also hoped that the centre will be available for the local community to use, Principal Dr Anne Murdoch says “it sends out a positive message about the state of the College: It's always important to keep going forward and to grow and that's exactly what we're doing. We hope that people will see this is an opportunity to come onto our sports or construction courses”