Plans have been unveiled for a £700,000 revamp of a secondary school.
The refurbishment of Banchory Academy would involve converting the swimming pool into a “learning plaza” to increase the number of teaching areas in the building.
A building warrant lodged with Aberdeenshire Council details the changes proposed.
Plans involve filling in the existing swimming pool and removing the changing rooms. Pupils will instead be given access to the new Banchory Sports Village, which will have a six-lane swimming pool, sports hall and fitness suite on site.
The planned changes have been welcomed by councillors and members of Aberdeenshire Council’s education committee.
A council spokesman said: “A building warrant application has been lodged to allow the council to fill in the pool at Banchory Academy, remove the changing rooms and convert the area to provide a multi-use teaching space and additional dining space.
“As well as providing additional accommodation in the school, we are looking to give pupils access to improved facilities as part of the Banchory Sports Village project.
“We are working with all the schools in the Banchory network to schedule access to the new facilities once they are available and the academy pool will continue to operate for the meantime.”
Councillor Rosemary Bruce, who sits on the council’s education committee, believes the new facilities will improve the learning experience for youngsters at the school.
The Liberal Democrat representative for the Banchory and Mid Deeside ward said: “The new learning plaza at Banchory Academy will provide much-needed additional dining space and social areas for pupils.
“The library will move into the area as well as additional learning space. It will be a modern and multi-functioning plaza for use by the pupils and community alike and I look forward to its completion.”
Keep up to date with the latest news with The Evening Express newsletter
Councillor Ann Ross, who also sits on the education committee, said: “I am pleased to see the plans for the learning plaza at Banchory Academy come forward.
“While it is a shame the school is having to lose its swimming pool and changing rooms, the space is being converted into this multi-use facility. This will mean the capacity of the dining area will be increased and more pupils will be able to take advantage of being able to enjoy school lunches.
“All in all, it is an exciting improvement for the school pupils and staff, and will therefore benefit the wider community. It is, however, important not to forget that a new academy for Banchory is still acutely needed.”
Gillian Owen, chairwoman of the education and children services committee, said: “The council is due to fill in the pool at Banchory Academy which will provide the school with multi-use teaching space with more dining space. This is really good news.
“Once the Banchory Sports Village project is open, all the schools in the network will be able to access this state-of-the-art facility.”
Help support quality local journalism … become a digital subscriber to the Evening Express
For as little as £5.99 a month you can access all of our content, including Premium articles.
Subscribe