The Plano City Council unanimously approved an agreement with the ArtCentre of Plano, Inc. Dec. 16 to restore and repurpose the Saigling House at Haggard Park.

The house will be repurposed to become an arts, cultural, meeting and events center, according to a presentation to the city council.

The restoration project will begin in fall 2015 and is expected to be completed within 18 months. The total project will cost about $3 million.

Some of the project funds come from the leftover assets from the Arts Center of North Texas, a regional arts project with the cities of Allen, Frisco and Plano. When the project dissolved this year, each city received more than $760,000 from the remaining funds to be used for the arts.

The restoration will include an expanded outdoor space and porch at the rear of the building to be used for exhibits, concerts or other events. This space will become the main entrance to the house, said Marcel Quimby, a principal for Quimby McCoy Architects.

The ArtCentre of Plano Inc., a nonprofit organization that promotes the arts in the city, will move into the house after renovations and take over the building's operations.

Frank Turner said there has been large community involvement for this project from the ArtCentre of Plano Inc., the Haggard Park Neighborhood, the Saigling family and the Plano Heritage Commission.

"This really is very much a part of the larger community," he said. "This is more than the house. We're thinking about it as it fits into its context of a historical park, neighborhood [and] existing art uses."