Education Minister Anne Craine MHK has visited the site of the new lower school being constructed at Bemahague, Onchan, to view the progress of work.
The Minister was shown around the site by Richard Collister, the Department’s Estates Director, and Keith Redhead, Project Manager with contractor Auldyn Construction Ltd.
The Minister saw the erection of steelwork now in progress for the first of the teaching blocks, which will eventually accommodate Science, Craft Design and Technology (CDT) and Art over three floors.
With the key completion of the major retaining wall along the spine of the building, the substructure works are well advanced to enable the further programmed steelwork erection to follow on over the coming months.
The Minister was also pleased to see that the concrete tank works are now complete for the hydrotherapy pool.
Mrs Craine said, "It is wonderful to see this school coming out of the ground. It’s like a giant Meccano set!
"I was very pleased to see the progress that has been made since my last visit to the site, when it was a muddy field and the groundworks were taking place. Now we can visualise where everything is going to fit.
"I was impressed by the detailed way in which the development is managed and the way in which all the site staff, while working on their own part of the site, were synchronised in the overall programme. Despite the recent poor weather, very little time has been lost and we are well on schedule."
The new school will house pupils from Years 7 to 9 (Key Stage 3) at St Ninian’s High School. It will feature extensive school and community sports facilities.
Work started last July and will be completed by July 2012, ready for its opening in September 2012.
Pictured: Education Minister Anne Craine MHK, Department of Education, with Estates Director Richard Collister and Auldyn Construction Ltd Project Manager Keith Redhead touring the site of the new school. Photograph by Brian Mitchell.
