ONE of Scotland's most famous industrial sites is on the brink of a new era after 15 years in the wilderness.

The cutting of the first turf at the new Motherwell College development late last year was the first sign of the rebirth of the old Ravenscraig complex.

Glory days of a Steelopolis' IN THE early 1950s the site which later housed the giant Ravenscraig steelworks was an area of green fields between Motherwell and Wishaw The Dalzell steel factory stood nearby and the area had been known as a "steelopolis" since the 19th century. Motherwell Football Club are still nicknamed The Steelmen Ravenscraig was opened in 1954 by Colville's at a cost of £20million It had 35 coke ovens, a blast furnace and melting shop with three furnaces Construction was finished in 1957 and special freight lines linked the complex with Clyde dockyards In 1979 a railway line was built between Ravenscraig and the new ore terminal at Hunterston in Ayrshire At its height Ravenscraig employed 6000-8000 people, with another 4000 employed indirectly in the local economy During the miners' strike of the 1980s there were scuffles involving pickets and police at the gates of the plant In 1990 the strip mill closed, with the loss of 700 jobs. The following year 1100 jobs went when the blast furnaces were closed The end came in 1992 in a closure announcement by John Major's Tory Government. The final 1500 workers were paid off The factory was demolished and after 15 years of lying empty, is about to see massive regeneration

And 2008 promises to be a key year in its regeneration.

The steelworks closed in 1992 with the loss of thousands of jobs a high-profile victim of Scotland's industrial decline.

Now, 15 years on, the site is being transformed into a new town fit for the 21st century.

And just as Ravenscraig was a proud symbol of the days of heavy industry, the new development is setting standards in regeneration which are being adopted worldwide.

It will cost an estimated £1.2billion, take 20 years to complete and see an entire new community of around 10,000 residents between Motherwell and Wishaw.

There will even be a new train station on the Lanark-Glasgow line and developers say up to 12,000 jobs will be created more than were employed at Ravenscraig.

Jim Fitzsimons, director of Ravenscraig Ltd, the company behind the redevelopment, said Ravenscraig represented 5% of Scotland's former industrial land.

He added: "It's a challenge and people from all over the world are looking at how we are regenerating it.

"People worldwide are visiting and contacting us and it's seen as a bit of a model on how to do it well.

"It can be something Scotland is proud of - Ravenscraig was heroic in its day but it has now gone and we have to look to the future."

Mr Fitzsimons said it was a relief the work was starting after a long period when decontamination, drainage and pipe-laying work was necessary.

There were also lengthy legal battles with rival developers, who claimed the shops planned for the new town would undermine the town centres of nearby Motherwell, Wishaw and Hamilton.

Eventually the protests were rejected by the House of Lords.

Mr Fitzsimons also felt it was "symbolic" the first building to start was an educational establishment.

He added: "The new Sportscotland facility will also be starting soon and the first 800 houses will be under way in the spring.

"The criticism has been that we are building nothing more than an out-of-town shopping centre this proves quite the opposite."

He stressed there was no question about the town being named anything else than Ravenscraig.

"Ravenscraig is a very powerful brand. Local people are very proud of the name and in its day the steelworks was breaking world records."

He said the target figures were 3500 houses, 10,000 residents and 12,000 new jobs.

There will also be two new primary schools, at least one new church, a police station, train station and playing fields.

Hugh Logan, principal of Motherwell College, said he was proud the college was the first building to get under way on the site.

He added: "Ravenscraig is embedded in Lanarkshire's history and just about every family in the community was affected in some way by its closure."

MR FITZSIMONS told how Motherwell College had helped many former Ravenscraig employees to re-train.

"The re-development of the site is the next chapter and it's really exciting we will be the first organisation to open there.

"We're already the largest provider of post-school education in Lanarkshire and our move to Ravenscraig will enable us to provide an even better learning environment in which the whole community can take advantage.

"The opening of the new college in August 2009 will be a momentous occasion for not only Motherwell College but the entire community as life is reborn at the Ravenscraig site."

Jimmy Coyle, planning convener of North Lanarkshire Council, used to work in the Clydesdale Tube Mills and he was a union shop steward at Ravenscraig.

He said: "I've lived in the area since 1966 and as an official with the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation was involved in the fight to save Ravenscraig.

"This is a classic example of how to regenerate an area of former industrial land.

"When I think back to the closure of Ravenscraig and the thousands of jobs that were lost and we thought then how do we recover from this?' "Now I look out my window in the council and I can see the lights of all the equipment on the site it's great stuff.

"People are absolutely delighted to see the rebirth of a site that employed so many and was so important in the past."