Hopwood Hall College set for face lift

Derek O’Toole, Principal of Hopwood Hall College

Hopwood Hall College, Rochdale campus, is set to have a face lift.
 
Rochdale Council will contribute £3.3million towards the cost of improving the visual appearance of the college.
 
A report presented to Councillors at a Cabinet meeting held tonight (Monday 21 March 2011) read: “The new Sixth Form College and improvement of the Police Station have shown up the poor quality of the existing Hopwood Hall College buildings.
 
“Plans exist to refurbish the college including replacing the poor quality external cladding, the construction of a new main entrance on St Mary’s Gate and altering the internal layout to provide a ground floor ‘shopping street’.
 
“There are other works including the demolition of the redundant Block C on College Road.”
 
The report continued: “The College’s resources are limited given the major investment currently underway in Middleton and the Council has been asked to support the project. A contribution of £3.3m from the Priority Investment Fund has been negotiated towards a total investment programme at the site in excess of £19m.
 
“The combination of a refurbished College, new Sixth Form College and refurbished Police Station will form an impressive entrance to Rochdale Town Centre.
 
“An added benefit is the integrated nature of the projects as the same architect is responsible for the three buildings.
 
Planning permission has been granted for the over-cladding and a second application is to be submitted during the spring for the extension and new entrance. A grant agreement is being developed and the College wishes to commence work next month.