By Chris Story

Last updated 05:20, Friday, 09 May 2008

CARLISLE College is set for a further massive £30 million revamp to include the demolition of its aging buildings.

Funding chiefs will consider proposals to transform the city centre campus and bring it into the 21st century.

They include bulldozing the 1960s block which stands behind the new £7 million building already opened on Victoria Place and replacing it with a state-of-the-art structure to help Carlisle’s educational transformation.

Work could start as soon as next March, if the plans are approved by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and planning bosses.

Providing there are no delays in the process, lessons being taught in the new building by autumn 2010.

Original plans had been to overhaul the building earmarked to be knocked down, but principal Moira Tattersall said they were encouraged to be more ambitious following a shift in Government policy.

The revamped proposals have the new building at their centrepiece.

It would feature an inner courtyard-style central atrium and include the college’s training salon, restaurant and shop – all run as real working enterprises.

A 14-19 centre with its own individual identity would also be created and developed in partnership with the area’s schools and training providers.

LSC officials are due to consider a funding application for the scheme over the coming months, while talks about the proposals have already been held with city planners.

Mrs Tattersall said: “We are teaching in the 21st century in buildings, the majority of which were built in the 1950s. They are not fit for purpose.

“The adaptations we have made over the years are now outdated.”

Carlisle College has 1,300 full and part-time students aged between 16 and 18. Nearly 3,000 adults are also taught there throughout the year, mainly on a part-time basis.

If the plans are approved, they would be the latest major investment in education in the city.

The University of Cumbria wants to build a showpiece £70million headquarters on Viaduct Estate, while city academies are to open on the existing St Aidan’s and Morton school sites.

Trinity School is also set for a £20 million transformation.