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Space-age new college is fit for the stars

Andy Cronshaw
27/ 3/2003

THE COLLEGE that produced acting stars Zoe Lucker, Tanya in Footballers' Wives, and Tracy Shaw, Maxine in Coronation Street, is getting a £20m rebuild.

City College's Arden Centre in Northenden is famous both for its theatre course and hairdressing courses but buildings at the site have started to crumble.

Now £20m is being spent on bringing facilities up-to-date and bringing all departments under one roof.

Principal Willie Mills, 52, said: "Originally the buildings were never designed as a college. It's a muddled collection of buildings which are well past their sell-by date but the teaching there was always of the highest standard.

"Now we are able to give the community the buildings which go with that quality."

The new building, on Sale Road, will be completed by the end of 2003 and will offer school leavers a range of courses.

Teachers says students will get more opportunities to combine academic and vocational subjects.

The new facilities will include hairdressing salons, beauty therapy suites, IT rooms, a unique multimedia suite, science laboratories, print workshops and a wide variety of art studios in addition to classrooms and social areas.

The Arden School of Theatre, which has produced actors who've worked in television soaps and programmes such as The Bill is destined to move away from the campus to another site.

Bosses at the college have yet to decide the location. City College, which also has campuses in West Didsbury and Manchester is one of the largest colleges in the country.