IF YOU look around, you can spot echoes of Park Street Arts Centre's previous life. Glints of colour dance on the walls near the stairs from a disco-style light. On a raised platform is a DJ booth.
While the sunken dance floor of this former nightclub still remains, a stage has been built over a raised area where clubbers once shimmied.
Soon, this space will be filled with audience members for a series of drama and musical theatre productions.
Jon Parker, the centre's administrator, said: "It was a lot of hard work, as it had been empty for some time.
"It needed a lot of tender loving care, so it was all hands on deck. The plumbing needed sorting out and we had new central heating put in.
"We've created a dance studio and a theatre and the whole place also needed a lick of paint."
The building, which includes the Richard Green Academy (RGA) Musical Theatre and Performing Arts School, has been taken on a long lease.
Work began three months ago on transforming the venue, which, in its days as a nightclub, went through several incarnations, including Silhouette and Code. The venue also has some previous form as a performance space.
In April this year, Hull theatre company Silent Uproar Productions staged a nightclub-set take on the legend of Don Juan on the dance floor.
So when the RGA – previously based in Charterhouse Lane – was searching for a new venue, the detached property, close to St Stephen's shopping centre, stood out.
"We had been looking for a new centre for a couple of years," said Jon.
"When we got talking, we decided this would probably make a very good place for an arts centre, as it is a fantastic location.
"Whereas before we were a bit tucked away, now everybody knows where we are. It is a bigger venue and it has more potential.
"Drama companies, and drama and dance schools, are thriving in the city.
"I think that has always been the case, but with the City of Culture announcement that has really reignited that passion.
"What we are really trying to do here is offer young people the chance to appear on a bigger stage."
Classes from the RGA will be staging Bugsy Malone at Hull New Theatre next year, and Sweeney Todd at Hull Truck Theatre.
The centre will offer tuition in dance, drama and musical theatre.
Other classes will include acting and writing for TV, alongside fitness classes including T'ai Chi and chair aerobics.
The intention is also to open the centre up to other groups.
Jon said: "If anyone wishes to run classes at the centre, whether that might be a creative writing group, or a book club or an art class, then rooms are available at a reasonable rate.
"There will be lots of different things on. The idea is that it will be a community arts centre.
"There will also be adult drama classes during the day, for those who fancy staging a play, and a choir too, for those who feel like coming along and having a go at singing."
The centre will also be used for outside productions, including other drama groups and music nights, with some of the acts at this year's Hull Comedy Festival taking to the stage at the venue.
The privately-funded space is now nearing completion.
Additions downstairs also include an American-style diner, in what was once one of the nightclub's bars.
Upstairs, four rooms have been knocked into one large, light space, which will be used as a dance studio.
"There has been a lot of help from volunteers, including the kids and their mums," said Jon.
"They've been cleaning, painting, a bit of everything really."
The centre will be hosting open days today and tomorrow, from 11am to 4pm, for those who wish to have a look around, or to take part in some workshops the centre is running.
"People can also drop in any evening this coming week to see what is going on, to sign up for a class or to enquire about room hire," said Jon.
The intention is for the centre to be open seven days a week, with classes on during the day and in the evenings.
Other projects include the launch of a talent agency. Jon said: "Those attending classes will work alongside professionals from theatre and television companies, so there will be opportunities to put people on professional books.
In the main performance area, volunteers were busy adding a new layer of black paint to the walls.
All that is needed now is people, and life, to fill the space up.
"Three months ago, this seemed really daunting," said Jon. "Now it has happened, there is a feelgood factor – it is buzzing."
• For more details, call 01482 222452.
