Wembley School to become education centre for Sudbury's Rainbow board

The former Wembley public school in Sudbury will soon take on a new life as a centre of education.

Rainbow Board education director Norm Blaseg said the site will consolidate a number of the board's services in one central spot — including the board's offices.

The other services will include the Restart Program from Barrydowne College, the maintenance shop from Lockerby and the computer training lab from Northeastern.

The $7 million project will gut the building — Blaseg said it's possible there's asbestos waiting in the walls.

"I'm sure there is and the architectural firm has indicated they're prepared for that and they've included that in the costing so they're prepared for those types of challenges," he said.

Blaseg told CBC News the renovation option is better than new construction.

"We are able to reduce our footprint by closing the current board offices and moving over to an existing site," he continued.

The project will begin in January, with a scheduled completion date of August, 2018.

Wembley School has been closed since 2011, but for the past 2.5 years, the kids from MacLeod school have used the old Sudbury building, while their school was under construction.