New Anderson High School

[nic]

Should the new AHS be built on the Knab?? Lots of debate in the press and SIC departments but what about views from the public.

[shetlander]

Yes - and the SIC needs to press on with it as soon as possible.

 

I remember the new school being talked about when I was last a pupil there, nearly 15 years ago. The issue of siting has been debated time and time again and both this and the previous Council have agreed to proceed with redevelopment on the Knab - primarily because its the cheaper option. Absolutely, look at whether external funding can be attracted but only if that can be done swiftly and without further delaying the project. One of the reasons the price is as high as it now is down to time delays caused by Councils procrastination on what to build and where.

 

I agree that the millions being talked about is a significant amount of money to spend on one project but are any of us really qualified to dispute that thats just how much it costs to put up a large school building in a remote location like Shetland?

[Ghostrider]

It's the wrong design, in fact I think the design looks hellish, and on the wrong part of the site. It's far too exposed.

 

That said, the way the rest of the site has been developed in the past has been in such a way, that there is no other realistically viable location for it on the site. A greenfield site has certain plusses, but considering where and what most of them are, they also come with their own undesirable aspects to locate a school at too.

 

The 70's extensions, considering what they were built of, and how they were built really must be living on borrowed time by now, and the 60's extension, I would imagine is getting pretty rat-eaten as well. So messing round any longer isn't an option, and considering how much £££'s has already had the chain pulled on them to get it this far, they'd best just make the best of a bad job and get on with it before it eats yet more money.

 

The fact of the matter is, when Clickimin/new pool/sports fields were built a new school should have been incorporated within the overall design, then many of the same facilities could have been used for school PE lessons during the school day, and by the public at evenings and weekends, avoiding duplicating a lot of that kind of thing on both sites. That's ancient history now though, a long gone opportunity, so best they can do is try and make do with best they have left.

[nic]

I'm all for a new AHS school. What i don't understand is the lack o, or apparent lack o energy saving initiatives. No wind, heat pump or solar just the Lerwick Heating Scheme. Great scheme but on a new build so much more could be done to reduce running costs.

[Para Handy]

How about feeding the children beans instant wind power and a good curry two there bottoms will be so warm and they will be to busy as well and maybe keep them in the AHS and not at the street the whole time

[mr_brain]

How about feeding the children beans instant wind power and a good curry two there bottoms will be so warm and they will be to busy as well and maybe keep them in the AHS and not at the street the whole time

 

are you one of those "school bairns hould be banned fae the streets"? I heard that on the radio today... i must say what a joke!

[nic]

Well i think the capital fund should scrap the £5.1M for the Mareel and divert it into a new AHS. Education is the future of shetland. Scotland and the UK will be playing catch up in 5 years time to India and China on educated young people.

[peeriebryan]

Please see the Mareel thread for a reply to the above ^ post

[cheryl.hughson]

What honestly is the point in spending so much to make a new school when you could make use of the existing facilities already available? Like investing into and making good use of other schools that we already have for example.

 

How about setting up a system where, depending on the area you live in, you are allocated to a certain school. Instead of shipping everyone in to one school like the Anderson. Thus spreading everyone out and making even use of our schools.

 

In turn it would create more jobs for teachers, and therefore offering new and different opportunities in schools that might not have had the facilities before.

 

Just a thought.

[Para Handy]

How about feeding the children beans instant wind power and a good curry two there bottoms will be so warm and they will be to busy as well and maybe keep them in the AHS and not at the street the whole time

 

are you one of those "school bairns hould be banned fae the streets"? !

 

^^^ No

[JustMe]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7400228.stm

 

That links to a story that two schools on the Scottish mainland and on Skye have just been completed at a cost of £28million each. Makes me wonder why the costs for a new AHS are so much higher and what could be done to reduce those costs.

[wally jumblat]

JustMe said:

Makes me wonder why the costs for a new AHS are so much higher and what could be done to reduce those costs.

 

Maybe it is because the SIC seems determined to build a giant glass horseshoe at the most exposed place in Lerwick.

 

Surely it would cost much, much less to build the new AHS to a more 'normal' design, of the type that would suffice anywhere else in the UK. It seems we have to pay about £20 million over the odds because our glorious leaders want a building that is 'iconic'.

[tlady]

Or 11 schools at a cost of 134 million

 

And that includes maintenance and janitorial services for the next 30 years

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4861580.stm

[Guest Pronto]

Trying to fit rectangular classrooms into a horseshoe, looks like the "architects" need to change the shape of the hole and not the shape of the block.

[Ghostrider]

Makes me wonder why the costs for a new AHS are so much higher and what could be done to reduce those costs.

 

Maybe it is because the SIC seems determined to build a giant glass horseshoe at the most exposed place in Lerwick.

 

Surely it would cost much, much less to build the new AHS to a more 'normal' design, of the type that would suffice anywhere else in the UK. It seems we have to pay about £20 million over the odds because our glorious leaders want a building that is 'iconic'.

 

Well said!

 

To my eye, 'idiotic' or 'shambolic' is a much more appropriate description of that....thing.

 

God knows the '64 and '78 extensions were never, and will never be things of beauty for the eye to behold, but why must they try and surpass their previous efforts by sinking to even more dire depths. If the planned AHS is indeed 'iconic', Charlotte House, The Shetland Hotel and the Legion are indeed architectural masterpieces.