A new sports centre next to Trinity Academy will open their doors to pupils and the public in August.
City of Edinburgh Council have invested more than £10m in the new Bangholm Sports and Outdoor Centre in the north of the capital, which comes as part of a wider project that will also see the development of a new Trinity Academy delivered by 2026.
The new development is part of the Council’s Wave Four of new schools programme which will see the replacement and redevelopment of a number of schools across the city over the next 10 years.
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As part of this scheme, the council will replace and refurbish Trinity Academy in two phases. The first will see the opening of the new sports facility in August and the second will see the start of the design process to replace and refurbish the main school site.
The council plans to keep the original Victorian sandstone building on Craighall but demolish the other buildings on the campus and construct new buildings to join onto the original. The plan is for the new facilities to be ready in 2026.
The council will run a consultation with the school and local community on Tuesday, June 13 but engagement work is already underway with the school staff and after the summer holidays there will be more detailed discussions with parents and locals.
This comes as part of the council's plans to create ‘20-minute neighbourhoods’ and the new school will be designed to have wider community access. The next major milestone will be submission of the planning application by the end of the year and building is set to start by Summer 2023.
Nick Burge, Head Teacher at Trinity Academy, said: “Having visited the site regularly
over the last nine months, the new PE and Sport facilities at Bangholm look excellent. I have worked closely with the design team and feel very lucky to have seen the plans become a reality.
“We have a very healthy PE curriculum as well as our extensive after school competitive and recreational sports programme. The new facilities including the strength and condition suites, dance studio, gym and games hall, provide a wonderful environment for everyone in our school to access during and after the school day.
“This is fantastic new horizon for our school and I am very grateful to everyone, particularly the current project team, the PE staff and our parent body who have worked tirelessly to get us to this point.
“Of course this is only the first of a number of new and exciting horizons ahead of us as a school. The plans for developing the main school site are under way, with these being shared for feedback with the community early in the new academic session.
"I have and will continue to work closely with this new design team as we all work to deliver a school environment that ably delivers both excellence and equity for all of the young people and families we serve at Trinity Academy.”
Cllr Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener, for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “It’s great to hear that the new sports and outdoor centre will be opening after the summer as it will provide excellent facilities for both the school and wider community.
“This project is part of our exciting Wave 4 replacement school building programme which has already seen a new Castlebrae High School open at Easter. Work has started on a new Currie Community High School and plans are in place for more improvements at Liberton, Wester Hailes and Balerno.
“Despite the effects of the pandemic on the construction industry a number of new schools have opened in the past year, including both primary and special schools. We will carry on with our plans that will see more than £500m planned investment over the next decade as we’re committed to creating a first-class learning estate and ensuring all our children have the best possible learning environment in which to flourish.”
