The Pegasus Theatre and I go back a long way. When I first reviewed there in 1973, it was still called the Oxford Youth Theatre and I was not very far from being a youth myself. I would never have dreamed of calling myself one, of course. Outside of courts, the word is little used – the county of Nottinghamshire being one obvious exception, perhaps because so many there are no strangers to courts.

In those long-ago days, the whole commendable enterprise was housed in a building that amounted to little more than a large hut. This survived to become part of the cluster of ramshackle buildings used for ancillary functions – rehearsal room, set construction, storage and the like – once the spartan Pegasus rose on a site nearer Magdalen Road.

They remained there, indeed, until last year when they were swept away – though pieces will survive in commemorative sculpture to be sited in the garden – as a prelude to the £3m development of the theatre.

Now rapidly nearing completion, the new building will hugely enhance the contribution that Pegasus can make to the artistic development of young people in the area and – as important, perhaps – to the entertainment of the wider public.

Last Friday, I was delighted to put on a hard-hat for a tour of the new building with the theatre’s project director Simon Daykin and its head of marketing Gill Jaggers. More than 50 workmen were still hard at it there in a final dash to have the theatre ready for its hand-over in April, after which will come the fitting of specialist equipment.

What a transformation has been effected in the design by architect Nick Brindley of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios! But while marvelling at the achievement one must feel glad – sentimentalists like me, at any rate – that the old building is still the focal point of the place.

The former auditorium will remain the main performance area, though this is now dwarfed by a huge rear extension. Included in this space is a very large area immediately adjoining the stage for set construction and storage. Beyond, overlooking the garden, is a high and airy studio which will double as a rehearsal space and performance area.

Spacious new dressing rooms, loos and showers are in the centre of the building, and on the first floor is an office area, well supplied with natural light through north-facing Velux windows, with room for 20-or-so desks.

On the roof there are sufficient solar panels to meet all of the theatre’s needs and supply electricity for the National Grid.

At the front of the building, which is tricked out with a cladding of copper, there is a large new foyer with a staircase leading to a cafe above. No doubt I shall be making use of this when I return to reviewing duties once the theatre’s performance programme begins in the middle of September. I think it very likely, too, that I shall be making use of the excellent Magdalen Arms pub next door, whither Gill and I repaired for lunch at the end of our tour.

As I reported in my restaurant column a couple of weeks ago, this is becoming a destination for the discerning where food is concerned under new owners Florence Fowler and her partner, the chef Tony Abarno.

On Friday, the place was full of people I know. These included very old friends Chris and Margaret Doyle, long-time Oxford licensees who were back in the city on a visit from their new home in Crete.

We agreed it was a matter of regret that the two city pubs they ran, with such value to the community, had had no chance of a similar makeover. The Shotover Arms, at Green Road roundabout became a McDonald’s ‘restaurant’; The Plasterer’s Arms, in Marston Road, was knocked down to make way for flats. I am uncertain which fate was worse.