Greenock Academy was opened as a fee-paying secondary and primary establishment in September 1855 in Nelson Street, Greenock. The school lay at this central
Greenock location for almost a century of its lifetime before the building was demolished and in June 1964, moved to a modern building in Madeira Street of Greenock's west end, on the site of the old Balclutha mansion. The Finnart Campus of
James Watt College now occupies the old school's Nelson Street site. The new Academy featured both a secondary and primary school with the later named 'south wing' area being the primary school. The new school was the first in county to have a swimming pool (just 10yds long and 4ft deep at the deep end!). On 29 December 1968
BBC Scotland's version of
Songs of Praise came from the school; the rest of the UK saw it from
Holy Trinity Platt Church in Rusholme, Manchester. The school had a
yacht club, and competed in the Clark Cup of Mudhook Yacht Club at
Helensburgh. Another similar school with a yacht club was
Rothesay Academy on the
Isle of Bute.
Comprehensive The primary department was abolished in 1976 and the lower door handles and
alphabet tiles still remained into the years as a secondary school. The Madeira Street campus remained open through into the new millennium as Greenock Academy clocked up its 150th year in 2005. Three years later, the school was named as the best non-denominational school in Scotland and still remained within the top 10% of Scottish secondary schools long after the announcement. The disrepair of the ageing building overthrew the academic performance of the academy and in 2011 the school prepared to close after 156 years in service. Greenock Academy and
Gourock High School merged into a new school in the Bayhill area of Gourock. The new school, on the site previously occupied by
St Columba's High School, Gourock, is known as
Clydeview Academy and opened in 2011.
Waterloo Road On 27 October 2011, the
BBC announced that they had selected the Madeira Street building of Greenock Academy to film a new series of the TV drama
Waterloo Road, following the production's move up north to nearby
Glasgow. The site was leased from
Inverclyde Council. On 2 April 2014, it was announced that the 10th series of
Waterloo Road was to be the last as the BBC "believe it has reached the end of its lifecycle". Filming concluded on the set in August 2014.
Demolition On 4 April 2015, the final stage in the school's history was brought forth as the demolition of the Madeira Street building was announced as being scheduled in September 2015, at an estimated cost of £164,000, following the end of filming used in the then anticipated date of May 2014. However, plans for demolition appeared to be brought forward as work began flattening the former school in February 2015. The council sold the site for redevelopment; the Glenpark Early Learning Centre was constructed at the top of the site and completed in 2018. ==Rectors of the Greenock Academy==