Construction work on a new £8.5 million Perth school will begin next month, the council has revealed.
The replacement for Oakbank Primary School will then take shape over the next 12 months. It will open to pupils in August 2015, with the old school making way for impressive new sporting facilities.
Pupils will continue to take lessons in their current classrooms while the construction takes place at a site on Viewlands Road West, between Perth High School and Perth Academy.
The decision to replace the school was taken following an extensive review of the 1960s building, which ruled out refurbishment.
Its structure was said to have deteriorated so much that replacement was the only sensible option and so state-of-the-art new facilities are now being created.
The new 4,000 square metre-school will be built on two levels and will boast a contemporary, flat-roofed design, together with an integrated nursery, a roof terrace, a learning resource centre, a general purpose room and break-out areas.
Playground facilities will be retained during construction, though one sports pitch will be lost.
New all-weather pitches will take shape once construction is complete and attention turns to demolition of the old building when the school breaks for the summer in 2015.
The news that work is finally to begin has been welcomed by local councillors, who believe the new school will be of huge benefit to the area.
Perth City South councillor Willie Wilson said: “Having campaigned for a replacement school at Oakbank for the past 10 years, I am really delighted that at last we have a start date.
“This is very good news for Oakbank and will help take the education of our young people forward into the 21st Century.”
BAM Construction will be responsible for building the new school, together with a sister primary school and nursery at Crieff.
It, too, is expected to be completed in 2015 and will share many design similarities with the Perth school.
Oakbank is one of the so-called CLASP schools built in the 1960s prefabricated school buildings that were cheaply constructed out of light steel frames.
The construction method appeared hugely successful and also became used for office buildings, but the design later proved problematic and flawed.
Many of the schools constructed across Scotland have suffered from building issues, including water penetration and, despite their relatively straightforward construction, have proved difficult and costly to repair.