Page 13 - HB- Further Education

Further Education in Redditch Redditch Heritage

The chief requirements were rooms for the Student Union and staff rooms, as by 1965
there were 55 full-time teaching members of staff. As St. Stephen’s Infant School
moved to new premises the following year, the remaining building provided at least six
large rooms suitable for all purposes. The St. Stephen’s building was used by Redditch
College from 1966 to 1983 when it was demolished as the structure had become unsafe.
Temporary classrooms on the site were used until the early 1990s. The area was then
used as a College car park.

In June 1971 Worcestershire County Council confirmed that stage 2 of the College
extension had been approved. There was a three-storey teaching building, a single- storey
gymnasium and a two-storey section housing changing rooms and a seminar room. The
new buildings were opened for teaching in March 1973.

.

Student numbers continued to
increase in the next ten years, so
that there were still
accommodation problems. In
1983 the structure of the St.
Stephen`s building in Peakman
Street was considered unsafe. The
building was demolished and
replaced by temporary
classrooms.

The IT centre in 2001. From 1973 to 1999 it was the
gymnasium.

In 1984 C Block in Easemore Road was opened and shared by Redditch College and the
Halcyon Centre, but the temporary buildings remained. By 1987 the College had 700
full-time students and 4,000 part-time students. In 1987 the Redditch Borough Council
objected to the huts in Peakman Street on the grounds that there was a lack of wheelchair
access and the temporary classrooms might become a permanent feature. The Deputy
Mayor described mobile classrooms, including those of Redditch College, as a carbuncle
on the face of the town. In 1991
Redditch College was inspected,
and the report recommended the
early replacement of the
temporary classrooms in
Peakman Street. In the same
year the County Council agreed
the huts should be replaced by
permanent buildings. Thus a new
building, D Block, was attached to
C Block and opened in 1994.

The college building in Peakman
Street in 2001. It was known as A
block from 1973 until 2003.

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