BUILDING work is well under way on a major new development that will bring a multipurpose business, leisure and religious centre to Redhill.
The new facility will transform the former Kandootoo shop in London Road with a ground-floor coffee shop, business hub, religious meeting area, auditorium and roof terrace.
The building was bought by the Redhill and Reigate Community Church last February and gained unanimous support from councillors when members applied for planning permission at the end of last year.
Alisdair Semple from the church said the plans were moving quickly and it is hoped the coffee shop will be open by the end of May.
"Once we've got the coffee shop in place we want to open it up as an acoustic music venue," he said. "It will be the best coffee shop in town. We're trying to make something that's got a good feel."
The church is also working with the Construction Youth Trust, a charity that works with young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs), to give them skills and eventually a job.
"It looks like this will be a pilot project for Reigate and Banstead Borough Council," said Mr Semple. "The expectation is that Reigate and Banstead will be in partnership with other projects using this as a pilot.
"We can take on eight to ten young people now but there's enough work here that we could take on more."
Once the coffee shop is open, it is expected that the business and consulting room will be ready by the end of June, with the auditorium, which will be the final part of the project, completed by September.
Paul Appleton, site manager and youth and community worker, said: "It would always have been easier to build this from the ground up but we've got it right. The whole borough is going to love what's coming here."
Once the building work is completed, it is hoped that another extension could be put in place to create more space for community and youth activities by 2014/15.
"We want this to be used for the benefit of different groups," said Mr Semple. "The church will make good use of it but there's quite a lot of time when it would stand empty and we don't want that."
