The college announced on Friday that they are taking the first steps toward construction of a new multi-purpose centre on the Wanliss St side of the school which will contain an assembly hall, stage, flexible learning spaces, performing arts room, music rooms and storage.

The school has gone through an extensive master planning project over the past two years and identified a number of projects key to the school's development over the next five years.

The new multi-purpose centre will also create a new area for students and a forecourt for the school entry in Wanliss street.

A school spokesman said the new building would improve the ability of the health and physical education faculty to stay on the Sturt Street site and have exclusive use of the O'Malley Gym, which will be maintained.

Although the final site of the new building is yet to be determined, in June the school submitted an application to council to allow the demolition of a two-storey post World War Two house on the school grounds at 2 Wanliss Road.

Project management firm Gallagher Jeffs is now working with the school on the design specifications of the new building and its location.

Architects are expected to be appointed, the design finalised and a tender process to appoint builders carried out in the next six months, with building to start mid to late next year and an expected 12-month construction phase.

While no budget has yet been set the cost of the multi-purpose centre is likely to run to several million dollars.

The project to redesign and develop the school's front reception is also expected to take place during 2021.

The two projects address many of the immediate needs identified in the master plan, which was the result of 18 months of work between the school and local firm Morton Dunn architects.

ALSO IN THE NEWS

They identified requirement for a purpose-built assembly hall, arts and music spaces, an enhanced student hub including covered areas and a redeveloped canteen area, additional indoor spaces for health and physical education and sporting activities, and refurbishment of front reception.

Longer term developments should also include enhanced covered areas to address extreme weather, environmental considerations, enhanced flow of the site to consolidate faculties and increased access to amenities.

In recent years the school has built new food technology, boarding and VCAL centres and during 2019/20 a series of smaller projects including the OCA Year 12 Study Centre and the Student Support Centre have been built and the Bernard Heinz Theatre and drama room have been refurbished.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.