Cost to rebuild school destroyed by blaze is likely to exceed £8m
REBUILDING a Derby infant school destroyed by fire last October will cost around £8 million, according to a new city council report.
Ravensdale Infant and Nursery School in Mickleover was deliberately set on fire early in the morning on Monday, October 5.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service was unable to contain the blaze and the majority of the building and most of the contents were lost.
While pupils from the school have been rehoused at temporary sites, work has begun to draw up a design for a new school and insurers have been establishing the likely cost of rebuilding.
It is not possible to give final costs at this stage, according to the report which is going to the Derby City Council cabinet tomorrow afternoon, but it is expected that the overall new build cost will be in the region of £8,045,000.
This includes design work costing £601,194, for which the cabinet is being asked to approve the expenditure. It is anticipated that the final designs will be completed and costed by April 2021. This cost is expected to met by the insurer once final numbers are confirmed.
The cabinet is also being asked to approve £442,519 for steelwork needed for the new building which must be ordered by March to ensure that the school will be completed around April/May 2022.
The recovery plan for the school has four overlapping phases.
These include the demolition of the damaged school and temporary arrangements on the school site for pupils; a partial return to the school site for nursery and one year group; relocation to a second temporary site for all other children, which will be at the new Castleward Primary School from September this year; and a return for all pupils into the new school in 2022.
The cabinet meeting takes place virtually on the city council’s YouTube channel from 4pm tomorrow.
Police are still investigating the fire.