Centrex announces £10m plan to redevelop Harperley Hall site
Centrex has purchased the Harperley Hall site in Crook, County Durham and is planning a major redevelopment of the site over the next three years.
The £10 million redevelopment plan will commence in March 2006, scheduled for completion around the end of 2007. When completed the site will feature 80 bedrooms, 10 classrooms, specialist IT suites for imaging and fingerprint work, specialist teaching laboratory facilities and a practical training block to include scene modules, vehicle examination areas and a unique blood pattern analysis room with observation gallery.
Centrex received the go-ahead to purchase the site from Durham Police Authority through an Office of Government Commerce gateway review at the end of March. The Rt Hon Hilary Armstrong, Government Chief Whip and MP for North West Durham, said: “I am delighted that Centrex has purchased Harperley Hall, which will provide a lasting and permanent home for the NTC with world-class facilities. We in County Durham are immensely proud of the NTC and its contribution to the local economy.”
The Harperley Hall site has been used by Centrex since 2002 to deliver forensic training through its National Training Centre (NTC). Centrex`s other two training facilities in the region, national fingerprint training at Aykley Heads and volume crime training at Spennymoor, will be transferred to the new site.