Morrison Construction has started work on a new £37 million Cumbernauld Academy and Cumbernauld Theatre campus in North Lanarkshire.

The new facility on South Kildrum Ring Road will have capacity for 1,250 pupils as well as a 300 seat replacement venue for the current Cumbernauld Theatre.

The development become the third in a series of large school design, build, finance and maintain (DBFM) projects that Morrison has built for North Lanarkshire Council and hub South West, with the new Clyde Valley Campus and Greenfaulds High School having already been successfully delivered.

Speaking at the turf-cutting event on Thursday, 07 September, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: "I'm very pleased to be here in Cumbernauld to formally mark work getting underway on this wonderful project, which is part of our £1.8bn Schools for the Future programme.


"A total of 116 schools across Scotland are being rebuilt or refurbished as part of this programme, providing our children and young people with state of the art educational accommodation, and I am delighted the Scottish Government is providing funding of £21.8m towards Cumbernauld Academy to help make this happen.

"The projects are also a welcome boost to the local economy, creating apprenticeship opportunities for young people and construction jobs across the country."

Cllr Frank McNally said: "The new school will become a first class resource for pupils and will provide outstanding educational opportunities. It will also become a valued facility for the wider community. It's great to see the progress which is being made."

Ed Robson, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Cumbernauld Theatre Trust, said: "The new Arts Centre will include a main theatre, a studio theatre, cinema, dance studio and café/bistro with superb facilities for drama, dance, music and film which will enable us to present a wider range of performances, bringing great experiences for audiences and world-class facilities for classes, workshops and community participation."

(LM)