A £500,000 scheme to transform The Courtenay Centre, Newton Abbot – which will include disabled-friendly facilities – were unveiled this week.

The community centre in Kingsteignton Road – home to between 40 and 50 organisations – is putting in a bid to the newly-formed Community Buildings Programme of the Big Lottery Fund. It already has a primer with £100,000 earmarked, as well as a contribution from Teignbridge Council which will provide a fully-lit level pedestrian link between the Cricketfield Road public car park and the centre.

A registered charity, the building is run by the Newton Abbot Centre Association, and its committee comprises representatives from the many groups and organisations who regularly meet there. Consultations on the plans have commenced within The Courtenay Centre membership, asking them what they would like, their ideas and what facilities they require.

Next Wednesday and Thursday, members will be consulting the public at the annual cheese and onion fair arts and crafts show in the town's adult community learning centre, next to the public library, and others carrying out a survey of people's views in the Market Precinct and Bank Street.

Backing that up is an open afternoon in The Courtenay Centre on Friday, September 29, between 2.30pm and 6pm, which Teignbridge MP Richard Younger-Ross will be attending, while councillors, centre members and members of the public are also invited. The plans will be on view. Architect Jeremy Newcombe, himself a member, highlighted the six main improvements.

lThe formation of a fully lit pathway link, which would be disabled friendly, from the Cricketfield Road car park to the centre. lProviding an access ramp to the main entrance reception area in Kingsteignton Road – currently steps – and a replacement front wall. It would also provide disabled parking near the main entrance and the lower level entrance.

lInstallation of a lift for the disabled and elderly from the reception entrance to the main hall and lower floor. lRefurbishment of the main hall including cooling and ventilation system, and the installation of retractable tiered seating for concerts, along with a hearing loop. lAn extension to the Kingsteignton Road frontage to provide two additional meeting rooms and improvements to the courtyard.

lA new 'lantern' entrance foyer which would include an exhibition area. The centre is nearing its 40th birthday and Mr Newcombe said the plans were aimed at carrying it through the next 40 years. 'The existing building has always run at no cost to the taxpayer,' said Mr Newcombe.

Staying with that theme, centre treasurer Colin Power said they wanted to create something that reflected better on the only true community building for Newton Abbot. 'It would be very nice to build a palace, but we want to build something that is worthy of Newton Abbot but is within the finances available if we can get a substantial lottery grant.'

Opened in November 1968, an extension was added in the 1980s, and it runs its own highly successful luncheon club for the over-55s. The centre is unique in the number of different groups or organisations using it – activities range from ballroom dancing, line dancing, keep fit, photographic, camera, chess and flower clubs, to dog training, dyslexia consultations, disabled clubs, concerts and the arts.

The centre houses the Newton Abbot and District Fine Art Society, and the Newton Abbot and District Society of Arts. Teignbridge Council is involved in a consultancy exercise with any groups in the district who are concerned with the arts, and here The Courtenay Centre plays a major part, with regular concerts – the main hall seats 200. Acknowledged as important for the delivery of art to the community, the importance of bringing it up to date with access for the disabled cannot be stressed enough. 'A major benefit of the centre, and indeed of any arts venue, is in offering a manager whose job is exclusively to attend to the requirements of hirers,' said Mr Power. The main entrance to the centre has looked a little tired and Mr Newcombe has designed a foyer/reception building which will stand out like a lantern at night, while the walls can be used for exhibitions. They both praised the great deal of goodwill the centre received from both town and district councillors.