Toowoomba primary school Our Lady of Lourdes in Newtown proposes big extension to campus to keep up with demand

The Toowoomba Regional Council’s planning department will consider an application for an extension to a city primary school.

A Toowoomba primary school has applied to make several refurbishments to its campus.

A longstanding Toowoomba primary school has proposed a host of extensions to its campus, in a bid to keep up with the growing demand for education.

Catholic school Our Lady of Lourdes submitted plans to the Toowoomba Regional Council last week related to several buildings on Goodwood St in Newtown.

According to the report by Precinct Urban Planning, the school wants to demolish two buildings to replace it with a new administration centre, while two other buildings would be refurbished to better meet the needs of students.

The works would be carried over in three stages on campus.

Concept art for extensions to Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in Newtown.

“(In stage one) it is intended to refurbish the double storey (Merici) building and make provision for an additional general learning area at the ground floor level and an additional GLA at the first floor level as extensions to the northern side of the building,” the report said.

The renovations include replacement of stairs, the removal of structures around the front of the building as well as changes to the line-marking of hard courts.

“(In the second stage), it is intended to demolish both the Hildegarde and Jarowair buildings and replace with a double storey administration building.

“The ground floor level of the new building will include the reception area, principal’s office, two assistant principal offices, interview room, sick bay, tech store and staff amenities, whereas, the first floor will include staffrooms, administration areas and staff amenities.

“(In the third stage) it is intended to refurbish the double storey Giabal building and make provision for an additional GLA and student amenities at the ground floor level and an additional multipurpose room and uniform store/tech store at the first floor level as extensions to the southern side of the building.”

The extensions will result in an increase to the gross floor area of 171 sqm, while another six car parks will be added to cater for the extra usage.

Our Lady of Lourdes is run by the Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools and was founded in 1940.

According to the school’s quadrennial report from September last year, the extensions were needed to cater for Toowoomba’s growing population.

“The constraint of space and land is one of the most raised topics by staff, parents and students, and they wish to see the school develop the site to accommodate the current and anticipated enrolment,” the report said.

“Many parents note that they see the paucity of open space as secondary to the outstanding

culture of the school.

“Replacing the school administration building to better meet the needs of the school community is part of the masterplan.

“The masterplan allows for the school to transition to a three-stream school from prep to

Year 6 by 2023.”

The council has yet to respond to the application.