Hopwood Hall College bids for £70 million redevelopment

Hopwood Hall College is in the early stages of developing a new and innovative accommodation strategy to completely rebuild its whole estate by 2011, estimating costs in excess of £70 million.

The College has received enthusiastic and supportive feedback from the Learning Skills Council and Rochdale MBC on the proposed redevelopments and is looking forward to moving on to the next stage of planning. Property consultants AA Projects are involved in the bid that would see the demolition of existing 1960s buildings to make way for the outstanding new facilities. The aim is to coordinate the College’s accommodation strategy with the regeneration plans for Rochdale Town Centre and also the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ initiative. 

The College also hopes to work in partnership with RMBC and local stakeholders in the creation of the new Sixth Form Centre, that it is envisaged will stand on the Saint Mary’s Gate site next to Hopwood Hall’s new buildings.  The erection of the Sixth Form Centre would see some college courses relocated to Middleton Campus, to be housed in a state-of-the-art skills centre planned for the site.  Middleton Campus has already seen significant redevelopment in recent years, with the completion of the Henry West Building, Sports Arena, Boxing Academy and Football Park costing over £10 million. 

Hopwood Hall’s Principal, Derek O’Toole, said of the proposal: “The transformation of both the Rochdale and Middleton campuses will see the creation of a new and inspirational Further Education College with exceptional education and training facilities for all learners in the borough.

“The success of both the new College and the Sixth Form Centre would fundamentally change the face of education and training in Rochdale. Such a large investment will be of enormous benefit to learners and we are indeed extremely eager to see how these projects will take shape in the coming months.”