New Drill Hall Library opened
28 February 2006
The Rt Hon David Miliband MP, Minister of Communities and local Government, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), visited the Universities at Medway site to open the new Drill Hall Library on Monday 13 February.
Rt Hon David Miliband MP unveiling plaque for the opening of the Drill Hall Library.
The event was also a celebration of the Universities at Medway partnership, involving the Universities of Greenwich, Kent and Canterbury Christ Church together with Mid-Kent College in a groundbreaking initiative set to transform education in Medway and the Thames Gateway.
In a join statement, the Vice-Chancellors of the three universities, Baroness Blackstone, Professor David Melville and Professor Michael Wright, together with Stephen Grix, Principal of Mid-Kent College said ‘We are delighted to be able to welcome Mr Miliband to the new campus. The opening of the Drill Hall will mark the success of our unique partnership which offers unrivalled opportunities for student choice and progression. With support from a wide range of stakeholders, we have been able to create a comprehensive University campus building on the individual strengths of each of our institutions.’
The Rt Hon David Miliband MP, Minister of Communities and Local Government, said: ‘The Universities at Medway partnership is an excellent example of what can be achieved when we agree a common goal and focus on delivery.
‘The Thames Gateway Programme is not just about building homes – it’s about creating sustainable communities where people will want to live, work and learn, and where businesses will want to be based. Investing in the higher education offering in this area will play an important part in the social and economic regeneration of the Gateway as a whole.
‘The joint campus has already brought many new residents and businesses to the area but it doesn’t stop there: Medway’s neighbouring communities will also benefit from having this new facility close at hand.’
Rt Hon David Miliband MP in conversation with Professor Michael Wright
Student numbers on the £50m joint campus in Chatham Maritime are set to rise to 6,000 in 2007. Between them the partners offer a range of courses including science, engineering, nursing, business studies, law and music technology. The shared campus is also home to the highly successful new Medway School of Pharmacy, jointly run by the Universities of Greenwich and Kent supported by Pfizer Ltd.
Since building work first started in 2003, the shared campus has developed rapidly. The refurbished Drill Hall now holds the Universities at Medway library and houses 370 PC study spaces, 400 open study spaces and more than 100,000 volumes in what is widely regarded as the longest library in Europe.
Universities at Medway plays a key role in the ODPM’s Thames Gateway Programme and will also have a major impact on the local economy, adding an estimated £10m of additional expenditure to Medway alone.
Chief Executive of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) Pam Alexander said: ‘Universities at Medway is a key initiative which SEEDA has been proud to support with £8.6 million of funding. We are thrilled that the £3.3 million renovation of the Drill Hall has created a fantastic learning facility.
‘Chatham Maritime is a great example of long term redevelopment, featuring new homes, employment, leisure and community facilities, making it a vibrant, truly mixed use town in the heart of the Thames Gateway. The importance of education-led regeneration is seen here in this collaboration between four of the UK’s excellent centres of learning, bringing new skills and opportunities into the historic buildings at its core.’
Notes to Editor
Rowan Williams Court
The University’s teaching and learning facility, Rowan Williams Court, situated on the Universities at Medway campus at Chatham, marked its one-year anniversary on 25th October 2005. The site was officially opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury on 25th October 2004, when it welcomed its first cohort of 390 students and concluded the academic year with 669. In 2006, Rowan Williams Court is providing for more than 1,000 and is a firm fixture in Chatham.
The University’s Chatham facility works with local public sector providers, education providers, local businesses and the community to provide comprehensive programmes in health, education and policing. It aims to create new opportunities for local people to access a range of higher education programmes, and local employers to enhance their employment opportunities and delivery of services.
Rowan Williams Court has been carefully fitted out with a mixture of teaching space, specialist facilities and staff accommodation. It features two lecture theatres, 12 seminar rooms, an open access learning centre with 40 computer stations, four computer labs, a coffee shop, boardroom and offices for around 50 staff.
In addition, the building boasts a full skills lab floor with an x-ray suite, occupation therapy activity of daily living suite (with specially adapted bathroom, bedroom and kitchen), occupational therapy workshops, two hospital wards, a paediatric and midwifery suite and an operating theatre. Students and staff also have access to the new Learning Resources Centre, which is being created in the former Drill Hall on campus.
Contact Details:
Claire Robinson
01227 782391
Email the Press Office
View this page online at: