School is full of character
End of an era for Academy
instructions to pupils but in modern times they are in among the kids.
She said: “It is a very special room. The windows are a replica of the ones in the Glasgow School of art. The architect James Morris was a contemporary of Mackintosh. It is perfect for drawing as the north facing windows give wonderful light without the glare from the sun. I will really miss this facility when the school moves to Craigie. But I won’t miss how cold it gets and the leaks.”
Councillor Bill Grant whose two daughters went to the Academy and janitor Phil Doolin led the Post through the building.
Councillor Grant said: “This building oozes character. The artroom is absolutely beautiful. We have to cherish this for the future. It can never be bulldozed. It needs tender loving care as it is absolutely supberb. The view is tremendous - former pupils would have seen merchant ships sailing in and maybe even smugglers arriving.”
Speaking proudly of the school he knows inside out, Phil said: “It hasn’t changed a bit. Former pupils come back to visit from the US and they say it is still exactly the same. People say there are ghosts but I’ve never seen one. It is the oldest school in Scotland. It dates back to 1233 with so much history and so many notable pupils passing through. In the past pupils would have had to be wealthy or very brainy to make it here. It is an era we don’t see any more.”
On the ground floor a cabinet displays gifts brought back from India by past pupils, including expensive silver trinkets.
Listed tiles line the walls and an old stone staircase runs through the heart of it.
Ayr Academy will close the doors to secondary pupils next year with a replacement erected in Craigie. But the school will remain a place of learning with primary schoolchildren from Ayr Grammar moving in.
Councillor Grant said he hopes the artroom will be opened up to the public.
He said: “It is important that this room will be used by the community and art will be at the heart of that vision.”