Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall said with the planning and demolition of the old buildings done, construction on Armidale's Secondary College could charge ahead with $121.2 million allocated to the project in the 2019/20 NSW Budget.
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For a project that commenced with a $65 million price tag, the college has blown out to more than twice that amount, and Mr Marshall remained unapologetic.
"Now we're getting a Smart Farm and and the Den will be enlarged, it will actually be basically rebuilt. It will go from a two court facility to a three court indoor facility," he said.
"There'll be PD-HPE, so there will be all the PD-HPE department learning spaces and staff facilities will be built on as an extension to the Den as well.
"But the big extra item will be the new Smart Farm which will be built onto the western side of the campus."
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He said the farm would be built where the old cattle yards were.
"There will be a massive indoor facility as well as well as outdoor to provide the most sophisticated, hands on agricultural teaching high school in NSW," Mr Marshall said.
"A desire for that came out of a lot of the consultation that was done with staff and students.
"While the school was being built it was seen as a real opportunity to have a really strong agricultural offering, given the economy of the Armidale region."
Mr Marshall said the reason the budget had got bigger was that so had the project, and it was about to rise further, with another $18 million expected to be added for a Performing Arts Centre.
"That would be an additional item," he said.
"That business case and final design is being finalised. So, potentially we've got a $139.2 million project happening.
"That should be the case, but we've got a few boxes to tick yet; that's why it was still shown as a $121 million project. That's why I'm not saying it's in, but everything is looking good at this stage.
"The Armidale Secondary College will change the face of education in the Northern Tablelands for generations to come," Mr Marshall said.
"With its greatly-expanded curriculum delivering the full range of Stage 6 (Years 11 and 12) subjects and potential to offer all Vocational Educational Training (VET) Framework.
"I feel Armidale will be among the best prepared regional cities to meet changing workforce needs and changing local economies," he said.