Expansion for school on move
9:05am Thursday 28th February 2013 in News
A SCHOOL has been forced to move to new premises after just two years because of flooding.
Lord’s Independent School has now moved from its building in Bridgeman Place after it flooded twice in just over a year, with the latest incident taking place on December 15.
The school, which only moved in to Bridgeman Place at Easter, 2011, as part of major expansion plans, is now based nearby in Breightmet Street.
The school’s plans included opening a new sixth form block and putting on adult education classes.
But principal Anne Ainsworth decided to uproot quickly despite the money that had been invested into the school after it was flooded.
“I was fed up,” she said. “The school was in inches of water, which was coming from the basement and the roof.
“It first flooded 12 months ago. We won’t get our money back, but the children prefer this school and they have a playground.”
The larger size means the school can now create purpose-built blocks such as science labs.
The school has already invested £10,000 in the new building and is spending more to refurbish it. Mrs Ainsworth said: “In a way it is a blessing in disguise because it is more modern and the children like it much more.
“It has been stressful, especially over Christmas when I only had Christmas Day off because of the problems.”
The school was founded in 1906 as a commercial college and is now run as a private school, charging fees of £1,600 per term.
Mrs Ainsworth added: “We were looking for a new building and it was by chance we came across this one, and it has worked out well. ”
A spokesman for the Chamber of Commerce, which owns the Bridgeman Place building, said: “Commerce House is an old building which has suffered residual damp problems for a number of years.
“The chamber has employed damp specialists and performed remedial work on the pavement outside the building to fix this problem.
“We have not been made aware of any flooding within Commerce House and are disappointed that Lord’s Independent School has decided to leave the building, but wish them well in their new location.”
