THE spectacular process of craning a large roof turret into place was the highlight of the 'topping out' ceremony at Penwith College's flagship Zennor building.

The turret on the main roof of the building, located over the glazed entrance atrium, will form the pinnacle of the building and will be the highest point on the whole scheme.

The Zennor building will house a multi-purpose theatre, a training kitchen, music practice rooms, hair and beauty salons and additional teaching rooms.

Secured

More than 60 guests attended the ceremony, including county councillors, governors, heads of local schools, the architects, Poynter Bradbury Wynter Cole, project manager, Kelvin Bottle, the senior Midas construction team and Truro and Penwith College staff.

After the turret was secured, guests for the ceremony enjoyed a brief tour of the building, enjoying the views from the building across Mount's Bay and a cream tea afterwards on the lawn at Treneere Manor.

Jonathan Burnett, principal of Truro and Penwith College said: "We are very pleased that the re-development is now well under way and to see the plans taking shape.

"We will move the college into the two new buildings while the remainder of the redevelopment takes place.

Truro and Penwith College has an established reputation as one of the highest quality providers in the county and we are determined to establish a tertiary college in Penzance where students will be able to have the best facilities and resources in a superb environment that will be second to none." Midas Construction has been on site at Penwith since January this year to construct six new buildings in two phases to provide new teaching and recreational facilities for students at the college.

The first phase should be completed in December 2009 and the second phase in December 2010.