Former Gala Academy and Borders College buildings at Melrose Road, Galashiels

Image: © Walter Baxter Taken: 22 Apr 2009

These buildings have been empty since the Borders College transferred all functions in April 2009 to the new campus at Netherdale Image The day after I took this photo on 22/4/09, the Borders College sign was removed. According to the framework for redevelopment of the 1.93 hectare (4.77 acres) site in the Scottish Borders Local Plan and Planning Brief, these buildings could be converted into flats with new houses built on the remaining area of the campus site. The Queens Sports Centre on the site is owned by Scottish Borders Council and will remain in situ. The original house on this site, called Oaklea, was converted into a school for Galashiels Academy in 1910 with extensions built over the years before the academy moved to a new school in the Gala House Policies in 1964 Image The site was used by Galashiels Technical College after the academy moved to the new school and then by Borders College from 1984 to 2009. I spent my first two years of secondary school here with few happy memories until the transfer to the more relaxed atmosphere of the new academy building. (Source: SBC Planning Brief and Galashiels, A Modern History).

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