New digs at Slade
WARWICK is set to get a new secondary school next year after the Warwick Christian College received its official high school accreditation from the State Government.
Principal Terrence McCorkell said the college, whose primary campus is now at Canningvale Rd, had strong enrolment numbers for Year 8 in 2013, with plans to introduce another secondary grade each year.
"Warwick Christian College is part of a network of P-12 schools run by Christian Community Ministries," Mr McCorkell said.
"Electrical work has started on Slade House and other buildings, the pool now has a new safety fence and minor building work and painting are about to begin in other buildings," he said.
He said the college was forming a Friends of Slade House group to find community support for refurbishing Slade House and "other icons on the campus".
Christian Community Ministries will have until August 2018 to pay the Southern Downs Regional Council $4 million for Slade in instalments, under a special deal struck earlier this year.
Former council CEO Rod Ferguson confirmed in April that the ministries had paid a deposit of $300,000, with an instalment of $400,000 due this month.
He said at the time the ministries would pay full commercial interest, set at 6% in the first year by the Queensland Treasury Corporation. He also said a "premium" had been added to the interest, but could not specify a figure.
The former Warwick Shire Council bought Slade from the Anglican Church Grammar School in 2007 for $3.65m.
The ministries' CEO, John Lyndon, said in April they expected to pay off Slade earlier than the August 2018 deadline, but did not specify a timeframe.
