Contractor ready to start work on new £30million school

A CONTRACTOR has been appointed for the long-awaited new school building at Holy Trinity College in Cookstown.

Last week, the principal of the secondary school revealed the major step forward in the project, which will see a £30million state-of-the-art facility built at the rear of the current site in the centre of Cookstown.

Ms Isabel Russell said Felix O’ Hare and Co Ltd Newry, had been named as the successful develop and construct contractor and that the technical design followed by construction of the 15,865m2 school “is scheduled to start as soon as possible”.

“The new school upon completion will provide pupils with ‘state of the art’ facilities and resources, thereby continuing to provide a first class, quality education for our children and for future generations, within a modern, inspiring and innovative bespoke learning environment,” said the principal.

“Construction of the new school will occur on the all-weather pitch to the rear of the existing building; learning and teaching will not be interrupted in any way during the process.”

The new school will provide new cutting-edge facilities and technology for a 1,300 pupil population, set over three floors, in addition to a lecture theatre, multi-purpose hall, integrated canteen and grab ‘n’ go café.

The project also includes a full-size Gaelic football synthetic pitch, two multi-use games areas, handball walls, tennis courts and a fitness and conditioning suite.

The school is also organising fundraising to provide supplementary resources and facilities to complement the Departmental funding for the new school. The Holy Trinity College Foundation has been established to drive this forward.

The principal added, “We now have within our grasp, an opportunity to ensure that Catholic post-primary education in Cookstown will be transformed to new heights.

“We have had great support from our community to date, and our children and staff deserve to have the best ‘state of the art’ teaching facilities to enable a first class quality education to be delivered.

“This is a great news day for Holy Trinity College and it is very reassuring for our pupils, staff, parents/guardians and our wider community.”