Progress on Fort William primary school contracts

A £36.5 million programme of new primary schools for the Fort William area has taken a major step forward with the award of two contracts.

The contract for a new school at Lundavra Road to replace the existing Fort William and Upper Achintore Primary Schools has been awarded to John Graham Construction Ltd. This is an 11-classroom school building with community facilities.

A new Gaelic Medium primary school with community facilities at Ardgour Road in Caol will be constructed by Robertson Construction Northern Ltd. Initially, it will have four classrooms but will have the capacity to be extended by up to a further four classrooms if required.

Construction work on each of the projects will commence in the spring with both of the new schools opening in August 2015.

Tenders have also been received for the new joint campus building at Caol. Following a review of the design and the phasing of the construction of the joint campus by the design team, it was found that significant reductions in both the cost and the construction period could be achieved without adversely affecting the overall quality of the buildings.

The outcome of the review recommended that the project is re-tendered in order to realise the benefits of some of these proposals. Based on the revised programme, the contract will be awarded in April. This short delay should be more than offset by the potential reduction of the construction period.

The Caol project involves demolition of the existing Caol Primary School and Caol Community Centre and construction on this site of a joint campus building to accommodate an eight-classroom school to replace Caol Primary School as well as a six-classroom school combining the existing Fort William and Lochyside Roman Catholic Primary Schools.  The new schools are due to open in February 2016.

Prior to the opening of the new school, the new Caol Community Centre building will be handed over at a time to enable the most efficient construction phasing of the joint campus.

The existing Community Centre will remain in operation during the first phase of the works until the new Community Centre building is ready. The demolition of the existing school and remaining external works are to be completed by May 2016.

Councillor Alasdair Christie, Chair, Adult and Children’s Service Committee, The Highland Council, said: “It is really good news for the Lochaber area that we committing such large sums of money to improving primary schooling in Fort William, especially as it comes on top of the major investment in Lochaber High School.”

Councillor Thomas MacLennan, Leader of the Council’s Lochaber Area Committee, added: “The Council’s very significant investment in the Fort William area in very welcome indeed.  It is great news for pupils, parents and school staff to have the very best equipment and surroundings for learning and teaching.  It is also excellent news for our local economy with the jobs that the construction of the three schools will provide.”