MORE than a million pounds has been spent on an ambitious project to transform an ailing 1930s bingo hall into a thriving community centre.

Bournemouth Community Church (BCC) brought the 1936 art deco building from Gala Bingo in 2009 for £1million, with the idea of turning it into a community hub called LIFEcentre for residents in Moordown and Winton.

More than £1.2million has already been spent revamping the building in the first phase of its refurbishment, including the creation of 10 new offices, a drop-in centre, a new 50-seater cafe and a 180-seater multi-media conference room.

Operations Manager Greg Rawlings said: “We really want the community to own LIFEcentre as theirs to use as much as possible.

“Whether it’s to book a room for an event or just to drop in to our new café for a cappuccino or hot chocolate.”

The second phase of the five-year programme is the completion by the end of this year of a 550-seater multi-purpose hall, hosting a range of activities and events from keep fit, dance and youth clubs, community socials to business conferences and local theatre groups. In two years time the BCC plans to complete a 1,000-seater upstairs auditorium, incorporating the 700 original balcony seats, with more meeting rooms, state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems throughout the complex for concerts, theatre productions and a cinema club.

The BCC anticipates that the third phase of the project will cost a further £2.5million.

It has already received generous donations from Talbot Trust, Valentine Trust and Beatrice Laing Trust, but is still searching for more.

Much of the money raised towards the project so far has come from the BCC’s 550 members.

For more information go to www.lifecentre.biz