A gallery, live-in artists' residence, creative space for dance groups, theatre and performance will be included at the Manor House, off Cottingham Road.

Arts group Corby Zone is working with Corby Council which has secured an £880,000 grant from Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd, an umbrella group promoting investment in the county, to buy the building, with plans to have the artists in place by the end of March.

The long-term plan is to turn the building into a vibrant space which will play a key role in the revitalisation of the Cottingham Road area near to the station.

The building sits in front of the new boulevard planned to connect the station with the town centre and the idea is to create an outdoor cafe.

Artist, writer and director Paula Boulton, who has been a pioneer of the Corby arts scene for 15 years, said: "The idea came at the start of 2006 when I was looking for a dance space and saw the boarded-up building. But after looking around I thought it could be much more than that.

"We have a hothouse of creativity in Corby and for so long there has been nowhere for it to go.

"There are places to perform but nowhere to create."

She said: "There is art going on in Corby at the moment but this is part of the national agenda and is being led by the Arts Council, which is fantastic.

"The local arts scene has not been part of it. This will be Corby's own creative scene which is very rich and diverse and has a high quality."

Corby Zone's Marian Anderson, who founded the group with Ms Moulton, James Steventon and Emma Boulton Roe, said: "We are ecstatic. We have been working towards this voluntarily for nearly two years and it finally feels like all the hard work has paid off.

"When we get the building open we are going to need to rally the help of the community. We are hoping to put Corby on the map as a centre of excellence."

Corby Council is now working with Corby Zone to put together a lottery funding bid for the running costs.

Council chief executive Chris Mallender said: "The suggestion came to us from Corby Zone and we were very enthusiastic about it.

"The project is important for a number of reasons, but it is a key site which will create an impressive frontage to the boulevard which will link the town centre and the station."

The artists plan to move into the building as soon as it has been bought and then refurbish when money comes through.