Bradford College (England) - History

History

In 1832 the Bradford Mechanics Institute was founded. In 1863 the institute had grown to accommodate full-time staff and had its own School of Industrial Design and Art. In 1872 the Bradford MP William Edward Forster opened new buildings in Bridge Street.

On June 23, 1882, the then Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) came to open the new School. They were given a very warm welcome: "From Saltaire Station to the Technical School, a distance of four miles, was one continuous avenue of Venetian masts, streamers, and many coloured banners, while at appropriate points triumphal arches of great magnificence were erected."

In 1982 the institution was named Bradford and Ilkley Community College, after a merger with Ilkley College, giving the combined college a small satellite campus in the nearby town of Ilkley, north-east of Bradford. This was closed in 1999 and soon after the institution became Bradford College.

In 2002 a merger between the college and the University of Bradford was proposed; this was pursued until the summer of 2003, when the two institutions issued a joint statement calling off the merger. Beginning in 2006 the college underwent a re-brand and unveiled its current logo. A community learning centre, named The Three Valleys Centre, was opened in nearby Keighley in 2007 which hosts a hairdressing and beauty salon (also operating on a commercial basis), as well as I.T and a range of language courses.

As part of the college's 175 year celebration, it published a list of 175 'heroes' - famous alumni of the college. This list includes ex-students such as Edward Appleton, Tasmin Archer, David Berglas, Alex Corina, Bob Hardy, David Hockney and Joyce Gould. The full list can be viewed at .

Trinity Green, which houses a new sports centre and teaching facilities for construction and engineering students, was opened in September 2008; this is housed in a new purpose-built building on the site of MacMillan Halls of Residence which were demolished in 2007. A second phase is being planned with the intention of replacing the Westbrook and Randall Well buildings with a more modern structure, however, government funding was put on hold for this project in March 2009 and is not expected to be available again until 2011.

More recently the College received the go-ahead by the Skills Funding Agency for a £50 million building. The project is the second phase of the College's Accommodation Strategy started with the opening of the Trinity Green Campus:

"The aim of the College’s Accommodation Strategy is to achieve efficiencies by reducing both the number of sites and overall quantity of space that it occupies by 33,000m2. Currently the College occupies 11 buildings with the vast majority requiring considerable investment to either improve their physical condition or their suitability for the changing needs of the curriculum. The College’s new build will replace the Westbrook, McMillan, Appleton and Old Buildings. The Westbrook Building will be demolished and the remaining buildings will either be sold or put to other use. The College plans to retain Lister Building, The Grove Library, Bolton Royd and Trinity Green Campus.."

Bradford College's Appleton Building was named after the Bradford scientist Edward Victor Appleton, and the College's Lister Building was named after Samuel Lister.