MELTON and Caroline Springs parents are relieved the former Mowbray College campuses will continue to be used for education.
As reported by the Weekly online, the Caroline Springs town centre campus was last week purchased by Truganina businessman Intaj Khan for $6.3 million, while Mowbray’s Patterson campus in Melton has been sold to Heathdale Christian College.
Sources have also revealed that Grace Street Child Care Centre and Kindergarten has purchased the third former Mowbray campus, in Brookside.
One source, who asked not to be named, confirmed with the Weekly that the child care centre had finalised the sale.
After almost 30 years, Mowbray officially closed its doors at the end of June after it was revealed it was more than $18 million in debt.
Former Mowbray parent Jacqueline MacKenzie said parents were happy with the sales.
“It’s very pleasing and I think we are all relieved that developers did not get a hold of the land,” she said.
Ms MacKenzie, Eliza Agapiou and Emma Nathan worked with the failed school’s bank, NAB, administrators JP Downey & Co and kindergarten staff to continue operating a preschool at the Brookside campus.
“The lease for Kinder for Kids has been confirmed until the end of the end, but hopefully we can negotiate with Grace Street child care to continue the kinder into the future, that would be fantastic,” Ms MacKenzie said.
Heathdale Christian College principal Reynold Tibben said the purchase of the Patterson campus was an exciting chapter for the K-12 school.
Mr Tibben said he hoped the school would have enrolments finalised for the 2014 school year.
“It’s great to be expanding our services to another community.”
Mr Tibben said the school would initially start with kinder through to grade 4 classes and hopefully expand from there.
“It would be impossible to establish kinder to year 12 in one hit; this way is manageable.”
In July, the Weekly revealed Mr Khan — chief executive of Western Institute of Technology — was seeking to purchase the college’s Caroline Springs campus, but his initial offer was knocked back.
Mr Khan said he hoped to open a vocational education centre, using the school’s current infrastructure, by the end of next month.
“It was a disgrace that school even had to close in the first place and I feel so sad for the students who didn’t get to stay,” he said.
“Hopefully, the new facility will provide more learning opportunities for people in the west.”
He said his proposal was expected to provide 10-20 jobs.
It’s believed the Patterson campus in Melton was sold for $8.5 million, while the Brookside campus, also in Caroline Springs, was sold for $3.3 million.
Fitzroys, the real estate agents overseeing the sale, did not return calls before the Weekly deadline.
