Prior Park College – WORK BEGINS ON NEW £5M SCHOOL SPORTS CENTRE
03 Mar 2014
EX ENGLAND CAPTAIN AND BATH RUGBY STAR, LEWIS MOODY MBE, IS NEW SPORTS AMBASSADOR FOR PRIOR FOUNDATION
TURF CUTTING CEREMONY
Work on the construction of a new Sports Centre for Prior Park College has begun with Lewis Moody and Kate Allenby joining the Prior Foundation Headmasters to cut the turf this morning. The state-of-the-art £5m building, to be situated at Prior Park College on Ralph Allen Drive, is due for completion in the spring of 2015. Today’s turf cutting was also witnessed by sports staff and sports captains from Prior Park and The Paragon.
Legendary rugby player Lewis Moody MBE, ex England captain and Bath stalwart performed the ceremony along with Kate Allenby MBE, 2000 Olympic Bronze medallist. They were joined by James Murphy-O’Connor, Headmaster of Prior Park College and Andrew Harvey, Headmaster of The Paragon Junior School.
Moody, who is a Paragon Junior School parent, agreed to be the Prior Sports Centre Ambassador and has interrupted his Six Nations Rugby Championship commitments to be present at the ceremony in Bath on Monday.
“As a Paragon parent I am really excited about the new Sports Centre at Prior Park College which will have benefits for all three schools within the Prior Foundation. I am pleased to offer my support for this project as sport has been such an integral part of my life. I believe it is vital that students are able to gain exposure to a whole variety of sports, and this facility will offer them that.”
Although Prior Park students already compete at very high level in all sports, regularly winning fixtures and taking part at national level in a number of different fields, the construction of the new Sports Centre will mark a re-energising of the school’s sporting ethos. It reflects the Prior Foundation’s commitment to excellence as well as reinforcing its stated mission to provide an intellectual, spiritual and social education for all its pupils.
Headmaster James Murphy-O’Connor comments: “This is an exciting time for us as we demonstrate our confidence in the future and make a substantial investment in the sporting lives of our students. In addition to providing state of the art sporting facilities in keeping with the aspirations of the College, consideration has been given to the sensitive setting in which the Sports Centre will be located. The architects have therefore designed an exemplary building which is both of its time and in keeping with its historic surroundings.”
The new centre will include 4 badminton courts with capacity for tennis, netball, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, five-a-side football and hockey practice as well as a dedicated fitness suite, classrooms and a viewing balcony over the cricket pitches.