'˜Good progress' by builders at Blackpool school

A huge yellow crane moved onto the building site at Park Community Academy, where a new five-classroom block is being built. It will be used to hoist up steelwork for the building's frame. (Picture: Park Community Academy/Twitter: @ParkSchoolBPL)

A new five classroom block at Park Community Academy started in November on the site of the old Whitegate Drive Family Centre and is due to be finished by mid-August.

Headteacher Keith Berry, inset, shared snaps of John Turner Construction’s work so far and said they, and Lytham architecture firm Creative SPARC, were making ‘great progress’.

As well as the foundations being concreted, bolt boxes have been installed, he said.

An artist's impression of Park Community Academy's new five classroom block off Whitegate Drive, Blackpool

A huge yellow crane arrived on site yesterday so the steel framework for the new building can get underway.

That should be in place this week, before brickwork starts. It is hoped a Forest School could also be developed on the site in the future.

In documents lodged with Blackpool Council, it was said the new building is needed to accommodate a rise in pupils.

“Due to the increased number of pupils on roll, the school now has a significant shortfall in accommodation to be able to safely and effectively deliver the school curriculum,” it said.

“This shortfall will be addressed by the construction of a new teaching block to be located on a new piece of adjacent land that will become and extension to the main school site.”

An extra 23 car parking spaces are also planned.

“The design of the new teaching block is single storey for ease of access for the children and to suit the scale of the surrounding context,” papers added.

“Due to the limited architectural merit of the existing school’s buildings it was decided to propose a striking modern education building to signify the forward-thinking and ambitious nature of the school.

“The new block’s design concept is for a timber pavilion set against the backdrop of a new small woodland that will form part of the school site on the new piece of land.

“The campus is also set within a relatively natural – albeit man-made – context with the proximity of Stanley Park. We wanted to draw on this and also make reference to the school’s intention to deliver forest school learning using the new woodland as part of the new scheme.”

Nobody at the school could be reached yesterday.