Skyline has changed but new site rises from the ashes
Ravenscraig once dominated the skyline, the night sky being illuminated like fire as the slag was released from the furnaces.
In June 1992, Ravenscraig Steelworks shut down the furnaces for the last time, bringing an end to 120 years of bulk steel-making in Scotland.
In recent years, plans to develop the site have stalled and then picked up again.
A revised masterplan was prepared for the next phase of development at Ravenscraig in 2017.
It was in 2015 that the Advertiser first reported plans to build a new town on the site of the former 1100-acre steelworks had been shelved.
Developers blamed a rise in the popularity of online shopping.
More than £200m had been invested, including £70m on the campus for Motherwell College (now part of New College Lanarkshire) and the £32m Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility.
Hundreds of new homes had been sold and a £2.9m pub and restaurant was built by brewers Marston’s.
The updated proposals included
• Around 550 new homes between 2018 and 2021 to add to the approximately 450 completed homes to date;
• A new primary school to be developed when there are 1000 homes on Ravenscraig land, which the developers expect will be within three to five years;
• A new site for a convenience store close to the Marston’s pub and hotel in addition to other shops;
• Space for offices and commercial businesses in the town centre, as well as other business opportunities on the employment sites located to the west of the site;
• Over 17 acres of parkland
Last year, plans for a new public park at Ravenscraig were approved.
The £3.7m park will include a play area, sensory garden, visitor hub with a disabled toilet and changing facility, events area, a network of walking and cycling routes, a multi-sports pitch and an outdoor gym.
A feature path will be created along the line of the historic steel strip mill.
The play area will have climbing walls, swings, trampolines, bouncing discs, a climbing tower, zip slide, talk tubes, balance beams and posts, incorporating accessible facilities for children and young people with mobility issues.
Seating areas will surround the play area and be located throughout the new park.