BAM is building the £9 million Leigh University Technical College (UTC) in Dartford for the Leigh Academies Trust, with works planned for completion by September 2014. The college will help increase the number of technicians and engineers in the country by encouraging more vocational training. Leigh UTC will also open up its facilities to the community to use in the evenings, including the hall, gym, dining hall and other spaces. The UTC is being built on the site of the old Joyce Green Hospital to the north of Bob Dunn Way, Dartford, near The Bridge housing estate. The Joyce Green Hospital, built in 1901, was a large hospital for smallpox patients, and later, a general hospital during World War II. After its closure in 2000, the hospital was demolished. Leigh UTC is part of the regeneration and expansion of the Dartford area as part of the Thames Gateway development.
