The former White Mountain Academy of the Arts in Elliot Lake is being renovated into a temporary site for the city’s public library and community and government services.

Through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp.’s Infrastructure and Community Development Program, $740,000 is being used to renovate the building for the library, the Elliot Lake Development Centre and the Elliot Lake branches of the Algoma District Services Administration Board and Algoma Public Health.

Renovations are underway now and expected to be complete by January 2013.

“The redevelopment of the White Mountain Academy building will do much to revitalize this community in both the long and short term by providing a stepping stone to future economic growth and prosperity,” Elliot Lake Mayor Rick Hamilton said in a news release.

This funding is being provided in addition to the $2-million business continuity fund and a $264,050 Community Adjustment Agreement announced by the provincial government earlier this summer.