By Luke Voogt
After almost a year, work has commenced on a Geelong school building which arsonists destroyed in January.
Newcomb Park Primary School principal Julie Warren welcomed workers to the school after 10 months of “standstill”.
“(The Department of Education is) promising it will be finished by 19 December, so we can move back in next year,” she said.
“We want the children to come to school feeling they’ve got this wonderful learning space, to be the best they can be.”
School council president Miranda Hurley contacted the Indy last month following the Education Department’s failure to repair the learning hub.
A bureaucratic bungle within the department led to the delay, she said on 5 October.
“We’ve had enough. I’ve had to turn to the media to speed things up … due to frustratingly long periods of waiting.”
A lot of “pro-active work” and meetings had happened since then, Ms Warren said.
A demolition team arrived at the school Monday to clear out the building’s interior.
The “hub of the school” had been home to assemblies, concerts and graduations, Ms Warren said.
She worried the burnt-out hub might have influenced parents to choose another school over Newcomb Park Primary.
“We need to show our prospective parents what it looks like when it’s up and running,” she said.
“It supports what teaching and learning is all about.”
Ms Warren praised Geelong State MP Christine Couzens for her efforts to speed up the rebuild.
“Our local member has been fabulous,” she said.
Ms Couzens announced on Wednesday Modus Projects would rebuild the learning hub, while architects Spaces Design Group would oversee the project.
“The fire was a terrible event for the students and teachers at Newcomb Park, with many of them no doubt still feeling the effects,” she said.
“We are now able to restore this building to its original state.”
The repair works will include stripping back much of the inside of the building and installing new fittings and fixtures to return it to its original state.
The final building will include four classrooms, a seminar space, a large library and learning resources area and staffroom.
