What next for old Monifieth High School as drone footage captures new £66.5m campus from above?

The completion of the new 1,200-pupil secondary school marks the timely completion of phase one of Angus Council’s Monifieth learning campus.

Monifieth High School students are adjusting to their new £66.5 million learning campus.

On Thursday, the 1200-student secondary school welcomed children into its classrooms.

Construction on the Passivhaus-designed school began in May 2023. Angus Council began considering options for Monifieth High’s replacement in 2018.

These included plans for a tri-council’super school’ project involving Angus, Dundee, and Perth and Kinross. However, in 2019, the western gateway development concept fell apart.

The following year, Angus Council secured funding from the Scottish Government for roughly half of the new Monifieth campus’ construction costs.

However, costs increased by £15 million in the three years between project approval and construction beginning on site.

What happens now with the old Monifieth High School building?

The completion of the new learning campus marks the successful completion, on time, of the project’s first phase.

Robertson Construction Tayside will now focus its efforts on the 46-year-old former school building. Drone footage clearly shows how it has grown over the years.

Angus Council will soon decommission the building and turn it over to the contractor for demolition.

It is already surrounded by fencing in preparation for the second phase of work. The next steps will include the creation of a bus drop-off area and a main pedestrian route to school.

Garden areas, synthetic and grass pitches, will all be completed. “Phase two will take approximately 12 months to complete from handover to Robertson Construction Tayside,” the council’s announcement stated.

Courier photographer Steve Brown captured images of the new and old Monifieth High School buildings.