Ystrad Mynach College has unveiled plans to build a new £20 million leisure and teaching centre on the former Graddfa School site on Twyn Road.
The state-of-the-art centre will provide a range of leisure and teaching facilities including a full-sized sports hall, an eight-lane 25m swimming pool, a learner pool, a gymnasium, beauty spa and café. The new facilities will be open to both students and public.
The upper floors of the centre at the top of the college site off Twyn Road will house teaching and learning spaces for the college, including art and photography studios.
In the centre’s atrium, an aeroplane fuselage will be suspended from the roof which will be used by air cabin crew students, and accessed from the upper floor.
The centre should be open in time for the college’s September intake in 2013.
The college bought the old school site from Caerphilly County Borough Council in 2003 and the current building, dating from 1959, currently houses General Education provision.
An open day is being held at the college on Wednesday, November 23, from 2pm to 7pm, for residents to look at the plans and ask questions about the leisure centre.
Paul Martin, the College Deputy Principal, responsible for planning and finance, said the centre would be of benefit to both students and people living nearby.
He said: “We are looking to accommodate everyone. In the day, the pool will be open for local schools to use for their lessons and then in the evening, the majority of the sports facilities will be available for the public.
The new modern sports facilities will replace the College’s out-of-date gymnasium.
Mr Martin added: “Our sports programmes at the college have been growing for a number of years and the facilities we have for the students are simply out of date. And we also have inadequate facilities for our art and photography students so they will all be upgraded as part of this exciting development.”
College Principal Bryn Davies said: “This new leisure centre will be a fabulous addition to the resources on offer at the College. It will not only benefit our students but also the wider community who will be able to use the state-of-the-art facilities.”
The college hopes to put a planning application in to Caerphilly County Borough Council in December.