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Ground broken on £32m education investment

A North East college launched its £32million investment in the region’s education on Tuesday by marking the occasion with a turning of the soil ceremony. East Durham & Houghall Community College is investing the millions to turn their Howletch site in Peterlee into a world-class teaching and learning experience.

Ian Prescott, Principal and Chief Executive of the college, said: “This investment will benefit the community, students and economic development of our region. The state of the art building that is being developed will put East Durham & Houghall Community College at the forefront of education providing a prosperous future for the area as a whole.”

The multi-million pound investment will host facilities such as top quality classrooms, a 500-seat sports hall and a contemporary conference suite as well as the largest dedicated theatre in the area.

Ian Williams, Chair of Governors, said: “Today is the first step in giving our community access to the first class educational facilities it deserves which in turn will raise the hopes and aspirations of the people and businesses of East Durham.”

The college, which is one of the top 10 per cent performing colleges in the country, marked the turning of the soil with a speech delivered by Ian Williams from the top of a 20 metre high drill. The planned completion of the building is in January 2009.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .