Balfour Beatty have held an open day to showcase plans and progress for Forth Valley College’s new £78 million Falkirk Campus.
The event was organised as part of the UK-wide ‘Open Doors Week’ (19 – 24 March 2018), an initiative which aims to encourage contractors across the nation to provide members of the public with a behind the scenes look at ‘live’ construction sites.
Stewart MacPhail, Balfour Beatty’s Project Director on the Middlefield site delivered a presentation, showed an animated fly-through film of the new campus and led a question and answer session for the 12 members of the public who signed up for the event on Thursday 22 March.
Pupils from Falkirk and Denny High Schools also visited on the same day and were treated to a similar presentation and progress report on the new building.
The new campus - which is earmarked for completion in November 2019 - will complete FVC’s ambitious estates programme which saw their £21 million Alloa Campus opened in 2011 and their £29 million Stirling Campus opened a year later. The Scottish Government is investing £65 million in the construction of the new campus.
The new Falkirk HQ will focus heavily on training facilities designed for science and technology, engineering, sport and healthcare, and will also have state-of-the-art provision and capabilities to accommodate a wide range of FVC’s courses.
Stewart MacPhail, Balfour Beatty Project Director, said: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to welcome members of the public to our site and present the work that we are carrying out. The event provided us with an opportunity to communicate the commitments we are making to the community, both during the works and for the legacy of this project. We are looking forward to building and maintaining our relationships with the community and the school over the coming year.”
Stephen Barr, Managing Director and owner of Little Kerse Leisure Ltd, said: “It will be fantastic and it is a great opportunity for the local community. As a local person I think it is great for the whole area.”
Karin Lind, Principal Teacher (Senior Phase) at Carrongrange School, said: “It looks like it will be a lovely building. I am excited by it and it is something that is absolutely needed here in Falkirk. Hopefully it will maximise the potential for disabled access for our students at Carrongrange.”
