COUNCIL COMMITS MAJOR FUNDING INVESTMENT FOR NEW BOROUGHMUIR HIGH SCHOOL
Funding of £35m to build a new Boroughmuir High School at Fountainbridge has been approved today.
The City of Edinburgh Council approved a capital budget of £35m for the school to be built on a site 500m away from the current Viewforth building.
The project is being part funded through the Scottish Government ‘Scotland’s Schools for the Future’ Programme which is managed by the Scottish Futures Trust.
Work is expected to start on the new school in autumn 2014, with completion scheduled for summer 2016 – subject to planning consent; a planning application is due to be submitted shortly.
Education Convener Cllr Paul Godzik said: “I’m delighted that funding has been agreed for the new Boroughmuir High School as pupils, parents and teachers have been waiting a long time for this to happen and this brings the reality of a new school a step closer.
“Boroughmuir has a first-class academic track record, and the focus is now firmly on delivering a new school that provides an equally impressive learning environment.
“Today’s agreement reinforces the Capital Coalition’s commitment to invest in our school estate and marks a great month for developments regarding Edinburgh schools.
“Last week, planning permission renewal was granted for a new Portobello High School on Portobello Park and in the Scottish Parliament, the City of Edinburgh Council (Portobello Park) Bill Committee has recommended to Parliament that the general principles of the bill be agreed.
“Earlier this week the final financial agreement on the new James Gillespie’s High School was reached, allowing construction work on the new James Gillespie’s High School to start. The demolition work required to allow the first phase of the project, the new Teaching Block, to be progressed is now nearly complete.
“As well as this, the Education, Children & Families Committee agreed a £30 Asset Management Programme, which will see significant upgrading works taken forward in schools across the city.
“All these developments are great news for parents and pupils in Edinburgh.”
The plans for the canal-side site for the new Boroughmuir High School, drawn up by Allan Murray Architects, include:
• teaching areas arranged around a multi-functional ‘heart’, or atrium,
• traditional classrooms offering easy access to collaborative break out areas,
• enhanced facilities for physical activity and external learning, including a unique roof-top multi-use external games area,
• a new public park, along the canal’s north bank, next to the site of the new school which will create a vibrant public space next to the waterway and towpath.
The proposed site for the new school is marked by the Union Canal to the south, Dundee Street to the north, and Viewforth to the east. The student residencies being built off Gibson Terrace for Napier University mark the western edge of the site.
To find out more about the new plans for Boroughmuir High, and to have your say, visit theproject website.
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