CONSTRUCTION on a $10 million independent senior college at Robina will start in early July.
The Australian Technical College will be built on a 6000 sqm site at Scottsdale Drive. The land was bought from Robina Land Corp for around $5.5 million. It was one of three possible sites identified by building consultants City Planners. The project is finally back on track after the initial withdrawal of Federal Government funding threatened to floor the project.
Developer Alder Constructions has set a completion date for January 2010 – one month prior to the first student intake of 300 across grades 11 and 12.
Designed by Amy Degenhart of Design Forum, the project has approval for seven storeys in accordance with the Robina Town Plan.
Alders Construction director Greg Alders, says 30 contractors will be employed over the six-month construction period, 10 per cent of whom will be apprentices. He says it’s not everyday that students have a hand in building their own school.
“After many months, it has finally come to fruition,” says Alders.
“When expressions of interest were sought 18 months ago, we fought hard to be a part of it. Training tradespeople is something that we wanted to be involved in. We are currently in the design phase and are planning a construction start in July.”
The college has placed 898 students in work experience since setting up in its temporary home at Reedy Creek last year and there are now 580 employers working with the institution. The official name of the college will not be decided until later in the year. It is one of four Australian Technical Colleges in Queensland.
“I’m genuinely proud about leading a school that teaches tradesmen. We want to build a college that we were proud of and something that industry had some confidence in,” says CEO and principal Mark Hands.
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