Science centre plan

The Pennine Way Hotel, bought for more than £1million by Oldham Council, will be sold for a nominal amount to create a new science centre.

The hotel, off Manchester Street, was bought originally for an extension of University Centre Oldham.

It was demolished in 2006 and became a car park. But the university centre decided to expand nearer to its town centre base.

Then the head of Oldham Sixth Form College, Nick Brown, suggested using the site for a new centre of excellence for science.

The plans came after the number of teenagers studying physics, chemistry, biology and electronics there increased by 26 per cent in the last three years.

The sale of the land will be discussed in private by the Cabinet on Monday because the report is commercially sensitive.

The multi-storey science centre will cost between £15 and £20million, have the backing of a local university, and provide science, technology, engineering and maths studies.