Last week, the local media donned high visibility jackets and hard hats, meeting with representatives from B&NES Council to visit the local contractors working hard on the £660,000 project to refurbish Radstock's historic Victoria Hall. The hall, which has been closed to the public for some time now, had to undergo asbestos removal and major electrical work before the current refurbishment works could begin to take place.

Many residents in the town have fought hard over the years to keep this building, which has haemorrhaged money, open. Originally opened in 1897 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, the Victoria Hall provided a snooker hall, library and meeting rooms for the town, helping to provide education and leisure facilities for residents of Radstock as part of a legacy from Lady Waldegrave. The hall was once used by the Radstock Industrial and Co-operative Society Board and Radstock Urban District Council and it was also used as a Magistrates Court. Later, Radstock Town Council were also using it, up until its closure. Many remember it fondly with heady days of live music, concerts and dancing. So there are high hopes for the new life that is about to be breathed into this building. As widely reported, the hall's tenant will be the Susan Hill School of Dancing, with Bath Dance College also using the facility. Both Sue and George Hill were keen to stress last week that of the four rooms available to the community, only one room would be used for dance between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the week, so at least three rooms will be available to those wanting to use them – already there are plans to set up new adult and children's choirs, art classes, a knitting group, the monthly market and talk of an 'alternative Christmas pantomime'.

Currently, the Victoria Hall is an extremely dusty place with missing floorboards – but it is being quickly transformed. Where possible, original features are being kept.

The building is due to open on 7th September, with the monthly market's launch the following day. It will open, however, in two phases, the first phase being the completion of the ground floor, with studio spaces, a corridor and reception area that will host art gallery space and a 'pop-up' coffee bar, so that the public can access the building as soon as the dance school moves in. The toilets are being replaced with new fittings, rotten floorboards replaced and a new heating system put in. Each room will be internet enabled and evidence of old sticking plaster repairs replaced for good this time.

Phase two will see further structural work with the caretaker's house being knocked through and a new staircase, lift and disabled toilet put in. There will also be a small area for buggy parking for parents visiting. The hall is being refurbished with the future in mind, with consideration for lighting rigging in the ceiling upstairs for performances.

Apart from rediscovering original features, refurbishment has thrown up no real surprises and contractors are working around the clock to be ready for 7th September. The second phase could possibly open before Christmas this year, when an official celebration will take place. Speaking at the site meeting, Cllr Paul Crossley, Leader of B&NES Council, said: "We are absolutely delighted with our investment into the refurbishment of Victoria Hall. We have an obligation to make it sustainable, with community access and input. Victoria Hall will be a cultural beacon for the whole of the area and a great new heart for Radstock."

Radstock's local Councillors were also present. After visiting the site, Simon Allen (Lib-Dem), said: "I'm really excited for the future of Victoria Hall, it will be fantastic when it is finished. In previous years, the hall wasn't really lending itself to be used and wasn't very welcoming. With this refurbishment work complete, I think it will go from strength to strength."

Cllr Eleanor Jackson, (Labour, Radstock), has lamented the loss of the snooker hall and been trying to find homes for the tables. She said: "It is good that the future of the Victoria Hall has been secured and that the exterior fabric is made safe and sound, but it is very sad that so much of the Victorian charm of the building has gone and, particularly, that the snooker hall has been lost. Also, the Town Council has lost the chance to return. Hopefully, if the Linden Homes planning application goes through, it will be possible to compensate with facilities for community buildings on the former railway land. I wish the Susan Hill School of Dance every success, not least because it enables me to claim that after nagging B&NES Council for so many years, I have kept my election pledge to save the Victoria Hall."