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Ballarat North Technical School opened in temporary accommodation under the jurisdiction of the Ballarat School of Mines in 1955. The following year the school moved into its permanent home on Norman Street, near Club Crescent. In 1959 it became a separate entity and went co-educational in 1969. Enrolments exceeded 900 by 1971 but gradually declined thereafter. Rebadged as Midlands Secondary College in the late 1980s, a few years later it formed part of a major rationalisation in the district. In 1994 it ‘merged’ with Ballarat East High and Wendouree Technical to form the multi-campus Ballarat Secondary College. However, the Midlands campus was for seniors only (Years 11 and 12) and did not last long, as the senior campus was relocated to Barkly Street for 2000. The former school was left to the elements for some years until the degree of vandalism led to most of the buildings being demolished. Around 2010, most of the site became the Senior School/FARM campus of Ballarat Specialist School. The remainder was acquired by Victoria Police as a training facility, and the new Ballarat North police station.

Then

Ballarat North Technical School then
Photo from “Green Acres” Magazine of Ballarat North Technical School, 1967. Courtesy of Australiana Research Collection, Ballarat Research Hub at Eureka

Now

Ballarat North Technical School now
Photo by Hayden Bader, January 2020

Furthermore

Victoria Police acquired the only surviving buildings – the school hall and cafeteria – to convert into a training facility. The police station was purpose built and opened in 2013.

The Ballarat Special School FARM campus was renamed John Burt Farm Campus in 2017, after its remarkable former principal.

Links

Ballarat North Technical School/Midlands Secondary College – private Facebook group

Class of 89 North Tech Reunion – Facebook group