by Thom Morris
A multi-million pound children’s education and activity centre in Ashford will open its doors in March with the promise of 50 local jobs.
Grosvenor Hall, the former regional police training centre behind Bybrook Barn, is being spruced up, with plans to recruit about a third of the 150-strong staff locally.
The 50-acre site, with 60 tree species, was a training centre for police officers from Kent and neighbouring areas for 30 years until its closure in 2006.
The old bar will be turned into a disco, the car park an adventure playground and offices into classrooms. The Kentish Express was given an exclusive look around the site.
Kingswood Grosvenor Hall director Dean Saunders said: “The first thing we did was sort out the grounds.
“They were really overgrown and had been left untended since the ground closed.
“The next thing to do, which we’re currently working on, is to get the buildings online. We’re reinstating the electricity, gas, water and also replacing the fire alarms system.”
There will be 375 bedrooms sleeping between two and 12 pupils, 18 classrooms for IT and language learning, a media centre and 30,000 sq ft of sports facilities – all in existing buildings.
There are plans for a purpose-built lake for kayaking and raft-building, a quad bike track, a laser zone, as well as using the indoor swimming pool for scuba diving.
Mr Saunders added: “We believe in the value of learning outside the classroom, and here we’re able to combine fun and adventure with learning.
“We have something akin to the Crystal Maze, where each room will have a different challenge linked to the curriculum. Puzzles and tasks will be built around subjects like languages, maths, geography and history, and at the end of the week prizes will be handed out to the best performing class or school.”