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HOUGHTON - The Lakeshore Center's renovation is almost complete.

The site, formerly known as the Upper Peninsula Power Co. building, was purchased by Michigan Technological University in July 2008. The building was renovated to become the MTEC SmartZone's fourth incubator through $3.2 million in grants awarded by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the federal Economic Development Administration.

The Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance held its monthly meeting Thursday in the conference room of the remodeled facility, expected to be completed near the start of the year.

Guy Labeau, a former Cohodas-Paoli worker, spoke about his memories of the building. The conference room he was speaking in used to be the freight office, he said.

"It's amazing to me to come back, remembering it as a warehouse, and see what a nice facility it's going to be," he said.

The SmartZone will occupy the first floor of the building, with the second floor going to Michigan Tech and current tenants such as Gundlach Champion. Some Michigan Tech departments have moved from campus to the third floor.

Included in the remodeling is a new SmartZone office, a student center, business support services, and a climate-controlled computer server room for companies.

The building will include six 170-square-foot office suites and another 11 ranging from 500 to 1,500 square feet.

The building is also marked as a site for U.P. Link, a telecommunications network that would with 43 sites planned across all 15 counties in the Upper Peninsula.

"It's a way to try and minimize the distance between all our communities," Crothers said.

Work must still be completed on the roof, Crothers said. The south face is done, while the north is almost completed and the west is still being worked on.

Crothers showed a picture of the building from its many decades of use by the Cohodas-Paoli Co., a fruit and producer wholesaler. During the work, the vintage signage has been exposed.

"We are bringing it back similar to what it used to look like," he said.

Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com.