Please find below a further reply from Nan McFarlane, SNP leader and councillor for Troon on South Ayshire Council.
It is interesting to note her information about how Marr College was built and that she acknowledges that people have in a large part moved to Troon so that they could send their children to Marr.
However she has proved that she does not know what is contained in the new extension built on to the school in the late 70s. Not only does it have the facilities that she mentions it also contains at least 30 classrooms that I can remember which means ofcourse that it did at least partially address the problem of the lack of capacity. So although the school may have been created with an expected role of 380 the new school building increases that figure.
I have changed my mind and am going to write back though at this stage. Please see her reply below.
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Dear Mr Crawford,
Thank you for your reply to my email.
I felt it important to answer your concerns regarding my lack of explanation of the differences of the school role from 1935 and the capacity issue of the building. C.K.Marr died on 19th February, 1919 and left his fortune to benefit the education of the people of Troon. It was the newly formed Trust at that time who (a) decided some of the money should be used for a new secondary school as the town did not have one. C.K.Marr had to travel to Ayr to complete his education. It was the Trust who decided to (b) engage the best architect in Scotland to design a school that would gain a worldwide reputation for its structure. Both of those decisions created a demand that went far beyond any anticipated school role number. This demand instigated a Council house build at Muirhead, Logan Drive and Barassie to meet the rapid growth in the town coming from families moving in to ensure their children secured a place at Marr College. Ottoline Drive and surrounding streets were constructed to house the owner/occupier families moving to Troon to access the school and all the benefits provided by the Trust. The capacity at the school was breached not long after it was opened and has continued to be stretched ever since.
What I was basically saying was the original building was built to house only around 380 pupils. I firmly believe the Trust failed to take into consideration the demand that would be created by the reputation the school would take on. In 1975 when Strathclyde took over, the extension was built to provide a library, gym and dining hall but did not improve the capacity problem. This is a situation that still exists today.
I hope this information is helpful
Nan
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