More details have been revealed over what happens next in a half a million pound project restoring one of Helston's historic buildings.

The Cornubian Arts and Science Trust (CAST), which owns and runs the arts building at 3 Penrose Road, has been awarded £500,000 by Arts Council England.

It will use this to upgrade the public areas of the building on the ground floor, making it more accessible and bringing the old Green School assembly room back into use, as well as upgrade the community café.

The scheme will also provide heating for the public areas of the building, so that it can be used all through the year, a new entry route into the assembly hall using the existing door at the east end of the building, and a new lobby area out of the ground floor studios at the back of the building.

The work will allow a wider range of activities to be held all year round, as well as prepare the building to host elements of a three-year contemporary art programme called Groundworks, for which the trust received a £500,000 grant in January 2016.

CAST chair Teresa Gleadowe said she "honestly didn't know" if the bid would be successful, but added: "It's just amazing. It's perfect timing. The building just needs more than we can do on a day-to-day basis."

The work will be carried out in two stages, the community cafe being the first to be completed, with a new kitchen and a renovated seating area. It is also hoped to replace two windows with doors, leading out onto a new terrace area for outdoor dining, subject to planning permission.

This will need to be completed by May next year, when the Groundworks project will begin. The aim will be then to start the second phase of work, on the assembly hall - which many might remember as being used for dance classes in more recent years - in September of next year.

Once the room can be used all year round, it opens up the possibility of different types of events - the details of which are being kept secret for now - as well as potentially allow the general public to hire out the room.

Ms Gleadowe added: "It will make another really lovely space in the centre of Helston and we hope to bring people to the town as well.

"It's pretty fantastic. I hope that the result will be that CAST will be able to really contribute a lot to the life of Helston."

However, she pointed out: "It's a lot of money, but it's not a lot in terms of the size of the project. It's not going to be a complete renovation; we're not going to be able to do everything. There will be some parts that will have to wait for the next opportunity."

All renovation work being carried out using this money has to be completed by the end of February 2019.

Cornwall Council has pledged a further £50,000 towards the project, which has also received the support of Helston Town Council, which promised a £5,000 grant to back the funding bid.

Members agreed to include half of the required money in its 2018/19 financial budget and the remainder the following year, after hearing that CAST would not need any funds until April 1, 2018.

The Helston organisation is one of only four in the south west that have been chosen to share National Lottery-funded capital worth £1.3million in total.

Phil Gibby, from Arts Council England, said: "We are delighted to be making an award of £500,000 from our capital programme to nurture the already successful and popular visual arts in West Cornwall.

"This investment supports the cultural infrastructure of the area and will be a community and artistic hub for Helston."

Work has recently been completed on the middle section of the building’s facade by local builders Adam Jackson and Jason Tripconey, who have been repairing and painting windows and renewing pointing.

It also included the discovery that the roundels at the top of the building were rotten beyond repair and Adam was able to make new ones to replace them like for like.