Plans are being drawn up for improved engineering and construction craft training facilities at the Isle of Man College.
Education Minister Tim Crookall MHK will seek Tynwald support and planning approval for the £4.9m development later this year.
Work would start ‘early next year’ on a facility for engineering and motor vehicle engineering at the old water treatment works site on Greenfield Road, with the aim it would be open from September 2014.
The space in college vacated by the current engineering department would then provide enlarged construction crafts facilities from spring/summer 2015.
The Minister said: ‘It is essential that suitable training facilities are provided to support the construction and engineering industries and bring through the next generation of engineers and those in construction trades.
‘Suitable accommodation to enable the widening of vocational choices to complement, or offer an alternative to, more conventional academic examination routes at 14-16 and beyond is also important.’
Training in construction crafts and engineering currently takes place across three sites – at the college in Homefield Road and at Hill’s Meadow and Union Mills.
The department believes the other two sites, not owned by the Department, provide a low-quality learning environment as teaching is fragmented and without the facilities available at the main campus.
The improvements would enable new courses in mechanical engineering and electronics, such as mechatronics, supporting new industry on the island.
The engineering building will be named the William Kennish Building, after the Manx inventor and marine engineer who set out early plans for the Panama Canal.
