Toronto’s disused historic Canada Malting heritage office building will be restored as an Irish-Canadian cultural centre.

The Canadian and Irish governments and the Canada Ireland Foundation is funding the project, officials from Canada and Ireland announced. According to an Infrastructure Canada news release, the two governments and the foundation will invest $14.6 million in the redevelopment.

Ottawa will invest $4.1 million, the Canada Ireland Foundation will kick in $7.1 million and the Irish government will furnish $2 million to bring its total support to date to about $3 million. Two of the project’s three phases have been completed, and most of the inside structural work is done, the foundation says on its website.

The building is part of a larger industrial complex, which was built in 1928 and once used as a brewery and malting facility. The site is located at the foot of Bathurst Street in the Eireann Quay district on the city’s waterfront.

Named the Corleck, the building will become the new home for the Canada Ireland Foundation and provide flexible space for the Irish community and many arts organizations, Infrastructure Canada said in a news release. The redeveloped structure will include multiuse assembly spaces, a retracting stage with total audiovisual capacity; a reception space, gallery and museum;  spaces for offices, conferences and classrooms; support room space; commercial kitchen; and a roof terrace for assembly.

“This project will help to reclaim Toronto’s waterfront by providing a beautiful space for events, activities and people of all backgrounds to gather,” said James Maloney, parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada and MP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore. “Historic, sustainable and accessible, the Corleck fulfills a vision of infrastructure that honours and preserves the past, makes space for the present, and supports a bright and prosperous future.”

Ottawa is providing its funds through the Green and Inclusive Community buildings program. The improvements are expected to reduce the buildings energy consumption by an estimated 28.4% and curb 19.5 million tonnes of annual greenhouse-gas emissions.

Toronto-based architecture firm Kearns Mancini is the project designer. The new cultural centre is slated to open in 2025.

Rendering: Kearns Mancini/Canada Ireland Foundation