Athlone Community College's new school moves a step closer

The process of replacing the existing Athlone Community College with a new school building took a step forward last week when it was announced that the project was now ready to be offered to the market under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. "This is wonderful news for students and staff," commented Athlone Community College principal Eileen Donohoe. A press release issued by the Department of Education last Thursday stated that the development, along with similar projects at seven other schools, would now be offered to the market. The group of eight schools to be provided through the PPP model was announced in 2008 and outline planning permission has been obtained for each of the projects. "Subject to the tendering process, it is expected that construction on these schools will commence in early 2012," stated the Department. It added that, under the PPP model, the schools will be designed, built, financed and maintained for 25 years by the successful tenderer. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent this week, Ms Donohoe said the new 1,000 pupil school for Athlone Community College was "long overdue and badly needed." Despite the 2008 announcement, there were fears that the economic climate could prevent the project from moving forward. "The hope was that we would be in situ (at the new school) in 2012. We were all keeping our fingers crossed that we would hear some good news so we're delighted and very thankful to everyone who has been pushing for this," she said.