The first phase of Machynlleth’s Old Stables renovations is set to be completed this summer, project coordinators have announced.

The Old Stables/ Hen Stablau were until recently a set of semi-abandoned stable blocks, carriage store, and hunt masters' lodge dating back to the 1840s belonging to the Town Council.

Sitting on the large Y Plas grounds, the Stables lay vacant, filling with litter, graffiti and debris and stripped of lead, copper and a clockface until last year when ground broke on what is set to be a transformative renovation project.

Led by volunteers, locals who are passionate about supporting the town and its buildings to shine as they once did, the group gained £450,000 in funding for the first set of renovations to change Hen Stablau into a 36-bed lodge.

The first phase is likely to be completed this July, involving vital repairs and shoring up of the building's structures to create a stable, “weathertight shell” ready for internal renovations at its next phase.

Machynlleth Mayor Jeremy Paige, chair of the Hen Stablau Community Interest Company, said: “The progress is fantastic and the engagement work [the team has done with the town] is great - involving the smallest people in the town to those in Cartref Dyfi [Care Home].

“Shelagh Hourahane [project manager] has done really well.”

The Hen Stablau team has involved residents in the project, creating a mural which will be installed on a nearby building in June, created collaboratively between five community groups.

Despite the sad loss of project manager and partner to Shelagh, Charlie Falzon, in late February this year, the work has continued, with the building already looking more sturdy than it did a year previously.

The end result will be a restored building as a visitors lodge, with the coach house becoming a community facility for activities, workshops and events.

The work slowed over winter but was chivvied on by the mild spring, with residents spotting workmen out on the roof daily doing repairs and re-slating, replacing stonework to the parapets, repointing the external walls and refurbishing the cupola (the hexagonal structure sitting on top of the roof).

Internally, work has been done to remove internal debris and vegetation, replacing rotten floors across two levels and structurally repairing the walls and lintels over doors and windows.

There has even been some repair work to doors and the replacement of windows.

The second phase for the internal renovations has yet to be decided - funding for this phase hasn’t yet been awarded.

The project team are awaiting a second application to the National Lottery Fund for over £1m.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be £2.5m, projected to then bring in £250,000 annually for the accommodation, with an additional £250,000 brought into the town.

According to organisers, it was crucial for the final product to be an “earner” after the building became a drain on council finances after it was closed as a private residence in 2007.