A £2.8m development dubbed Rhondda Life will provide Ferndale in Wales with a new sports and leisure complex centered on the country's national sport.

The four-year phased project will replace Ferndale Rugby Club with a new two-storey Rugby Club complete with an events pavilion and a fitness centre, complemented by a 20-bedroom, three-star hotel, bars, a restaurant featuring the history of Welsh rugby, a café and heritage suite and community offices.

The new complex will also be linked to the new Living Museum of Song and Music being developed in the town's Morlais Hall.

Tim Burton, head of group operations for the Welsh Rugby Union, said: "It is critical for the future of our national sport that we consistently improve facilities for players, coaches, volunteers and supporters.

"Rugby clubs throughout Wales ensure that children and adults are physically active within a safe and inclusive environment. To maintain this level of activity means that clubs are having to diversify and form partnerships outside of rugby."

It is anticipated that the scheme will regenerate the area by providing a revitalised platform for small tourism-related community enterprises, alongside new employment and training opportunities.

The Rhondda Life consortium, which comprises four Ferndale Rugby Club, Morlais Choir, Blaenllechau Community Regeneration and the Blaenllechau and Ferndale Partnership, received £1.4m funding from the Welsh Assembly Government's Heads of the Valleys Programme.

Ieuan Wyn Jones, minister for the economy and transport, said: "This supports the work the Assembly Government is already undertaking to promote and develop tourism in the Valleys and it's great to see community groups working together to drive forward a project of this scale.

"It is a highly imaginative sustainable project designed to bring a wide range of long lasting benefits to the local community."

The first phase of works will be undertaken after Christmas 2009.