Campaigners are celebrating the completion of an £80,000 scheme that has transformed their much-loved historic cinema.

The Malt Hall has been turned into a performing arts venue as part of a £1.5m project to upgrade Lymington Community Centre.

Now renamed The Malt, the Grade II listed structure is due to re-open tomorrow after a ten-week closure.

It will still be used to show films and stage plays performed by the Lymington Players but some of the seats can now be removed, enabling part of the auditorium to be used for weddings, fashion shows and other events.

Paul Sherry, the community association’s development director, said: “It’s a listed building that goes back a long way.

“The interior was looking very tired, the seating was very uncomfortable and the facility could only be used as a cinema and a theatre.

“It was in dire need of some TLC. The work carried out in the past few weeks has given it a great lift.”

The scheme is part of a five-year project to refurbish the entire community centre, parts of which date from the 1740s.

As reported in the Daily Echo the project is due to be completed by the year 2020 and has been christened 20:20 Vision.

A corridor linking The Malt with the entrance to the centre will be converted into an open plan art and exhibition area.

The cafe will be replaced by a restaurant with a landscaped courtyard and the Phoenix Room will be used to provide a new home for a pre-school based at the centre, enabling its existing base to take on a multi-purpose role.

Community association bosses are hoping to obtain grants towards the cost of the scheme, which includes a new first-floor function room.

Improvements to The Malt were partly funded by Lymington and Pennington Town Council, which donated £25,000.

Association chairman Pete Wagstaff said: “The building has been turned into a multi-purpose facility that’s fully equipped to host a wide variety of events, including music recitals and live screenings of opera and ballet.

“We’re thrilled to have completed phase one of our 20:20 project. The new look given to The Malt represents our commitment to provide facilities that will meet the needs of our visitors in the 21st century and beyond.”