“Significant milestone” for new college campus

A £40 million capital project, fully funded by the Department for the Economy, to develop a new state-of-the-art campus for Northern Regional College in Coleraine has reached a “significant milestone”.

Demolition of the old campus has now been completed and an official Construction Notice has been issued to permit construction of the new campus building at Union Street in the town.

Describing the development as a “significant milestone”, Mel Higgins, Acting Principal and Chief Executive of Northern Regional College, commented: “The issue of this Construction Notice takes us a step closer to realising our ambitious vision to create a world-class learning environment for our students in a state-of-the-art campus in Coleraine, and to further enhance our ability to welcome and serve our local community in the town.

“Having made such fantastic progress on the decant and demolition of the former Coleraine campus in recent months, we are excited to take this important step forward in the plans for the campus and to continue working with Heron Bros on the build project.”

Led by contractor Heron Bros, construction of the new campus building at Union Street in Coleraine has now commenced. The campus will feature a fully accessible, state-of-the-art, 12,560m2 four storey building, incorporating the former Church of Ireland premises on Brook Street, which will be fully restored to house a 80-100 seat Performing Arts Centre.

Karl McKillop, Construction Director with Heron Bros, said: “We are proud to be involved in this prestigious development and look forward to the next important steps in delivering this complex education facility and leaving a lasting legacy for Coleraine and the wider area.”

It is anticipated that over 100 new construction jobs will be created and a further 300 sustained during the building phase of the Coleraine campus. Along with these full-time jobs, over 1,000 weeks of employment and training will be provided through traineeships, apprenticeships and higher level apprenticeships (HLAs) across a range of construction related trades.

The Coleraine campus construction project is expected to complete in the 2023/2024 academic year.

The project forms part of a wider £85 million capital investment programme which will also see the development of a new campus for the College at Farm Lodge in Ballymena.