RENOVATIONS are continuing at the Tullibody Civic Centre as the volunteers prepare for the next major landmark.

Following the takeover of the building by the Tullibody Community Development Trust (TCDT) in March this year, work has been ongoing ever since as the group who saved the building try to improve it for future generations.

Janette McGowan, chair of the trust, detailed the work that has been taking place and the ambitious plans for the future.

She said: "Back in August 2018 when the council were still operating the building, they closed the sports hall because there was a leak in the roof.

"They had a consultation report done and [the cost] to fix the roof was going to be some extortionate figure.

"When we became the tenants of the building we raised funding through our members and got match funding so we had the money to repair the roof but the council wouldn't let us do it because of the health and safety aspects of the building.

"We had to sit from then until the end of March when we finally purchased the building and the first thing we wanted to do was get the roof fixed."

The trust had already sourced a local contractor to come in and the roof was repaired at the beginning of April, shortly after the ownership had been finalised.

With the damage caused to the building by the leak, the next job was to scrub and clean the hall.

Janette continued: "All the volunteers took part in that and then we got a local decorating company who had already done work for us to come in and completely refurbish the sports hall.

"We want to open it in [early] August; the last job we've got to do is fix a couple of cracks in the floor caused by the water. A company have given us a figure and we have the funding so we're desperately waiting for them to come in.

"We're really excited to open the sports hall," she aded. "As tenants and then owners we've never been able to let out the sports hall and there's been a lot of demand for it.

"We're absolutely delighted, that's been our main focus. Once we become owners our main focus was to get that hall up and running.

"There was so much demand for it, it was so frustrating for us watching the dilapidation of the hall. It's been a major relief apart from anything and also a big tick off our list of our ambition moving forward with the centre."

Next up will be a big fundraising drive to raise money to change the layout of the building and have the doors of the café open to the bowling green and the playing field.

Search Tullibody Community Development Trust on Facebook to keep up to date with the ongoing work at the Civic Centre.