ON FRIDAY, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, blessed the new £60 million York College, which is due to open in a few month's time.

The development is the culmination of five years of work. But the project was always on the cards after York Sixth Form College and York College of Further and Higher Education were amalgamated in 1999.

Here, we look back at the plans and what the future holds for the 13,000 students and staff.

It was back in October 2002 when the college first announced plans to build a new campus.

By selling to developers the 23-acre brownfield site in Tadcaster Road, on which the further and higher education college stood, it was hoped the money would fund the majority of any new development with the shortfall being made up by the Learning And Skills Council.

Initially, the cost of the new campus was put at £35 million, although this rose to £50 million and then £60 million.

At the time, a site had still not been identified although options included land at York Central behind the National Railway Museum, the University of York and the site on which the Sixth Form College stood in Sim Balk Lane.

It was the latter site which was eventually chosen and a planning application for a new £60 million campus was submitted early in February 2004.

The following month, an outline application to develop the Tadcaster Road site for housing was submitted along with an application for an all-weather pitch next to the new campus.

At the time, college principal Mike Galloway said: "The two applications go hand in hand. The money raised from the sale of the Tadcaster Road site will go part way to funding the new college.

"Without encroaching on any green belt land, the city gets the new college it so vitally needs, as well as much-needed new homes on brownfield land."

The plans included converting Ashfield House into apartments while traffic consultants were employed to work out the impact a new college and housing estate would have on the area.

The college always refused to say how much it would earn from the sale of the Tadcaster Road site but with an application for 360 homes and each home costing a minimum of £100,000 it was estimated the site would be worth £36m at the very least.

In June 2004, councillors on City of York Council's planning committee approved plans for the new 30,000 square metre York College campus after a two- and-a-half hour debate.

Designed by concept architects Bond Bryan the plans included a five-storey building, extensive landscaping, a congestion-free transport system and the use of opaque glass to limit light pollution and safeguard the privacy of neighbours. It was also thought the building would save up to £1 million-a-year in running costs.

The following August, councillors gave their approval for outline planning permission for the housing development on the Tadcaster Road site, meaning the new state-of-the-art campus could be paid for.

The housing project was for two, three and four-storey homes along with apartment blocks.

Work finally started on the new campus just over 12 months later, in October 2005.

Liz Burdett, the then acting executive director of the Learning And Skills Council North Yorkshire, which was helping to fund the project, officially broke the ground while at the wheel of an excavator.

In November last year, a firm planning application was submitted by the college for 360 homes on the Tadcaster Road site. All the existing buildings are to be demolished, apart from Ashfield House, and it could be completed as early as 2010.

Towards the end of 2006, much of the external building work was heading towards completion and people could now tell what it was going to look like.

In November last year, a topping-out ceremony was held as the college reached its full height.

At the celebration, Mr Galloway said: "The topping-out ceremony marked another milestone in this exciting and hugely important project."

At the end of January, two future students got the chance to look around the new building and were pictured in The Press standing in the atrium.

One of them, Lydia Barker, of Oaklands School, said: "The new college looks really enormous and modern. Seeing the building close-up, I am very excited about studying here in September."

At the blessing on Friday, the Archbishop of York said the college represented the importance put on education and training in the city.

The college is now in its last few months before it accepts September's intake.

The original deadline for completion looks set to be met and a new generation of students will have the very best of facilities in which to continue their education.

The £60 million York College project...

* October 2002: York College announces it is to build a new campus to house all its students and staff under one roof.

* February 2004: Sim Balk Lane has been chosen as the site for the college and a planning application is submitted to City of York Council.

* March 2004: Outline planning permission is requested for a housing development on the site of the former further and higher education college in Tadcaster Road.

* June 2004: Members of City of York's planning committee approve the plans for the college.

* August 2004: Outline planning permission is given for the housing development.

* October 2005: Work begins on the new state-of-the-art £60m campus.

* November 2006: A detailed planning application is submitted for 360 homes on the site in Tadcaster Road. Later that month a topping-out ceremony is held as the new, five-storey campus building reaches its full height.

* March 2007: The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, blesses each wing of the college along with the faith room and college nursery.