Wolverhampton learning quarter expansion to cost £50 million
A new learning quarter in the centre of Wolverhampton will cost £50 million.
Councillors will spend around £6m buying up land around the former Faces nightclub for the new development, as part of a project that will see City of Wolverhampton College relocate.
The learning quarter will be based around Old Hall Street and would include Central Library along with the college’s existing Adult Education campus. It would provide space for up to 3,000 students and 1,200 apprenticeships.
The city’s Paget Road campus will close and move into the city centre. The new campus will see the college’s existing Metro One site in Bilston Street extended in an area around the old nightclub, which closed in July 2016, and include the adult learning campus and Central Library.
The library would continue to serve the public but would also provide resource facilities for college students with a new walkway connecting the buildings.
Architects have been appointed and funding will be in place with some of the cash coming from the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, Wolverhampton council and proceeds from the sale of Paget Road.
College Principal Claire Boliver said the aim was to open the doors of the revamped campus to students by September 2019.
She said: “It’s really going to be an exciting project and a great addition to the city.”
A paper on the plan is recommended to be approved by council bosses on Monday.
Councillor Claire Darke, cabinet member for education, said: “This learning quarter is important to improve the future of the city.
“We know that education has a positive impact on employment, business growth and other factors that help elevate people’s quality of life. I would say that this will be money well spent in investing in the future of the people of Wolverhampton.”
