It’s been an exciting start to the school year for students at McKinnon Secondary College with their brand new East Campus (Middle School) complete and operational for term one.
As Project Manager for this Victorian School Building Authority project, last week’s opening ceremony was hugely fulfilling. For Jason Demetlica (Senior Project Manager), witnessing the smiles and pride for their school, of the staff and 1,100 students in years eight and nine was fantastic.
“It’s been a massive couple of years, navigating through the obstacles imposed by COVID-19. Seeing the new school come to life, students smiling with obvious excitement and pride in the world-class facilities makes it all so worthwhile. A building truly becomes beautiful once occupied by the inhabitants it’s designed for.”
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Designed by K2LD and built by ADCO, the campus includes a new, four-storey vertical building. The world-class, modern learning environments cater for science, technology, design, art, music and drama – as well as a brand-new gymnasium with a competition grade basketball court, retractable seating, a commercial kitchen, outdoor sports amenities and landscaping.
Held in the gymnasium, the opening ceremony was officiated by Minister for Education James Merlino and Member for Bentleigh Nick Staikos.
In officially opening the campus, James Merlino addressed the staff and students, describing McKinnon Secondary College as one of the best schools in the state.
‘To be here today and see this stunning education facility come to its completion is just so exciting. The last couple of years have been really tough. For the year nine cohort, to have had your entire secondary school experience interrupted by COVID, to get you back to school here on day one, term one, we want to keep you here on campus, face to face where you can really enjoy your school life.’
School Principal Pitsa Binnion spoke of the combined effort of the teams on site, in bringing the project to fruition
‘To deliver this beautiful building – $70M worth of building, ADCO, SEMZ, K2LD and the VSBA, I want to thank you all for being here, for the work that you’ve done along the way. Collectively, you’ve absolutely been a wonderful team to work with. Incredible work has been done to deliver this beautiful building for our year eight and nine students.’
As project Managers, there are many significant moments of fulfilment in seeing our projects come to fruition. Witnessing a brand new school, brimming with the energy of students learning, laughing and connecting is hard to beat!
Well done to our SEMZ Project Management team, ADCO, K2LD the VSBA and trade partners for your tireless efforts in completing this beautiful campus in time for the 2022 school year.
