College building on Kings Drive left in a state of disrepair and vandalised

Vandals have smashed multiple windows on all floors, gone inside and trashed classrooms.

Glass shards lay beneath the smashed windows, and multiple signs said keep-out, danger hazard area, unsafe building, and may contain asbestos.

A gardener mowing the rugby pitch out front said, “It’s been like this [with broken windows] for at least a year and a half now”.

“I saw kids on the roof the other month”.

What will happen to this 40-year-plus-old site?

A teacher from the East Sussex College’s (ESC) run campus behind the old building stated that “the building was closed when we went into lockdown and is still mothballed”.

“Before then, there was talk of land being sold to Eastbourne Borough Council for housing”.

The A-level courses that used to take place in these buildings have now moved to the ESC campus behind.

But some courses, like A-level Law, are no longer available in Eastbourne.

Students in Eastbourne and surrounding towns like Hailsham and Polegate who want to do Law and other A-levels not available on the campus must choose from other ESC campuses in Lewes, Newhaven and Hastings and sixth-form courses at secondary schools.

It’s either that or private education at one of the nearby schools.

The building has a rich history.

It officially became Eastbourne’s sixth-form college in 1979 and was eventually Park College in 1994.

Park College became Sussex Downs in 2003 and merged with Sussex Coast College to become East Sussex College Group in 2018.

The local council and East Sussex College are still developing the ESC college site, which is a minute’s walk behind the building.

Work was underway when I visited.

I’m sure many Eastbournians, old and young, have many memories of this Kings Drive building.

What are your memories of this college?