AN AMBITIOUS £2.3 million refurbishment project is under way at an ageing Port Glasgow school.

Work has started at St John’s Primary to bring the building up to date.

The transformation will take just over eight months and will see internal walls brought down so that classrooms can be altered.

A new dining hall will be created, a nursery built, the gymnasium will be extended and a lift will be added.

A playground revamp will see a multi-use games area installed for the children to enjoy.

Council bosses stress that traditional features such as the stone facade bearing the school’s name and the year it was built, 1931, will be retained.

Education convener Terry Loughran, education vice convener Martin Brennan and local councillor James McColgan were invited to tour the site yesterday.

Councillor McColgan, a former pupil at St John’s, has fond memories of his time there.

He said: “I’m very pleased to see the work started on site.

“I really enjoyed my time at St John’s, it’s a small school and it’s a lovely community.

“Some teachers who taught me are still here.” Councillor Brennan added: “St John’s has a unique place in the heart of the local community.” Contractors CBC are doing the work, which is expected to finish in August next year.

The firm is also refurbishing Ardgowan Primary in Greenock, with that project also due to be completed in 2015.

Councillor Loughran says St John’s is one of several schools in Inverclyde built in the 1930s, including Greenock’s Lady Alice Primary.

He told the Tele: “St John’s is part of Port Glasgow’s history and once the refurbishment is completed, it will offer educational opportunities for the future.” Pupils are currently decanted at the former St Stephen’s High building and will remain there until the work is finished.