Willmott Dixon has been appointed by Manchester City Council through its framework partnership to build a new primary school on one section of the old stadium site. It's part of a regeneration process that is also seeing new housing being built on the site.

Work on the school starts this month and it will take just over a year to complete. The school, provisionally known as Maine Road school, merges the existing St Edward's RC School and Bishop Bilsborrow RC Primary School with the full support of governors from both schools. The contract for Willmott Dixon is worth £6.7 million.

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Willmott Dixon's Deputy Managing Director in Manchester Anthony Dillon said: "Manchester City's Maine Road stadium was such a landmark in the city. The Willmott Dixon team are really pleased they can play a lead role in making sure the site continues to be an important part of the community by giving local young people an excellent place to learn and develop. This new school is a fitting legacy to a site that will always be held with so much affection by many people in Manchester and beyond."

The new school will form an intrinsic part of the regeneration of Moss Side and Rusholme which is undergoing major physical, social and economic improvements. It will be complemented on the Maine Road site by 444 new homes by Lowry Homes that will improve housing quality and choice in the area. There is also a proposal for a new Manchester Primary Care NHS Trust health centre.

(CD/NS)