Lockerbie Old School group is celebrating after securing the £5.1 million needed for a building redevelopment project.
The final piece of the funding jigsaw to transform the 145-year-old building into a community and enterprise centre was confirmed this week.
The project has been awarded £2.62m from the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund.
And that will top up an earlier award of almost £775,000 from Dumfries and Galloway Council.
Jackie Moffat, chairwoman of the Lockerbie Old School, said: “This marks a historic point in our journey, because, as a result, we have now achieved 100 per cent of the £5.1m we need to bring the dream we have had since 2013 to reality.
“I would like to thank our key partners – Dumfries and Galloway Council, Cunninghame Housing Association and South of Scotland Enterprise – with all their help and support.
“Without them and our other funders, none of this would have been possible”
A range of additional funders are supporting the project, including the Holywood Trust, Magnox, Muirhall Energy, Robertson Trust and the Pan Am 103 Trust.
Work has already begun on the first phase of the project, which involves stripping out the interior to the bare brick.
The main construction work will begin in May and it is set to reopen its doors in the summer of 2024 as a new facility with space for a wide range of activities which will provide employment, volunteering, educational and social opportunities for the people of Lockerbie and the surrounding area.
In addition, eight new flats are being built on the site by Cunninghame Housing Association that will provide assisted living accommodation for local residents, supported by Turning Point Scotland – pushing the total redevelopment of the site to £6m.
Councillor Katie Hagmann, head of the council’s economy and resources committee, praised everyone involved with the ambitious project.
She said: “This is a reflection of the hard work put in by the committee of volunteers who had the positive vision of creating a shared, multi-use facility for the town.”
Cunninghame Housing’s chief executive, Frank Sweeney, added: “This is phenomenal news for Lockerbie and for the Dumfries and Galloway region as a whole.
“A huge well done to all parties.
“The association is fully committed to the continued support as a project partner and assisting wherever it can until the centre opens and beyond.”
Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell, who lived opposite the former school as a child, said: “I couldn’t be more pleased to see a building which played such a big and happy part in my childhood come back to life.
“I am really excited that after all these years the building, which holds so many memories for me and others locally, as well as having been the focal point of the police and civilian operations following the Lockerbie Air Disaster, will once again be at the heart of the community.
“Well done to the team who have worked so hard over the years to make this happen.”
And fellow ward councillor Gail Macgregor added: “The announcement shows the strength of the RCGF and the commitment by local government to regenerating communities.”
