Breaking Ground on Arts Centre

Sherborne Girls was delighted to break ground this week on its new Arts Centre, a transformational project that will benefit the whole school and wider Sherborne community.

The new Arts Centre, located at the heart of the campus, will comprise a new recital hall with 350 fixed seats (or capacity for 560 as a lecture theatre); conversion of the current music centre to create a new drama school; a link building joining music, drama and art as well as providing attractive display space to showcase talented artists; and a multifunctional social space for a range of events from guest speakers and exhibitions to match teas and social events.

The breaking ground event was attended by Headmistress Jenny Dwyer; outgoing Chair of Governors Stephen Wingfield Digby, who retires in August after 16 years as a Governor and 10 years as Chair; and the new Chair of Governors Richard Strang, who has served as a Governor for the past 9 years. Also, in attendance were Mike Hayton, Project Manager, and other members of school staff.

Stephen Wingfield Digby commented, “As well as giving creative arts the facilities they deserve, this new centre is also going to create a welcoming hub at the heart of the school, adding to the sense of community and benefiting the daily lives of the girls, staff and the Sherborne community for generations to come.”

Jenny Dwyer added, “This is the biggest and most exciting development Sherborne Girls has ever undertaken. More than a new building, we are bringing the key areas of school life together. We look forward to welcoming the community into our new venue.”

Onlookers applauded as the excavator broke ground, digging up the first bucket load to make way for the 2,200 sq metres development. The state of the art machinery, which uses an intelligent memory system and 3-D software programme to extract the exact amount of spoil, will remove over 10,000 tonnes of spoil which will then be used to level the sports pitches.

The cost of the £10m project is being supported by a £2.5m fundraising appeal. Sherborne Girls is delighted to have already raised almost £2m thanks to the generosity of its parents, past parents, old girls, honorary old girls and friends of the school. It will continue to fundraise throughout construction, which is scheduled to last 16 months.

Go here for more information about the project.