Planning work for future infrastructure in Whitehorse will be done in one of the oldest buildings in the city.

At Monday night's city council meeting, members of council heard from Brian Crist, the city's director of operations. He said planning work for Whitehorse's approximately $18 million of federal gas tax money will be done in the Smith House, located in LePage Park.

'We're going to put a sign up ... we think it's a good idea to have it in such a prominent downtown location,' Crist said of the house located at the corner of Wood Street and Third Avenue.

The Smith House will be the location where planning for the city's Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) will be done, Crist added.

The ICSP is a Yukon government sustainable planning requirement for each municipality in the territory looking to access its share of the $37.5 million in federal gas tax money, to be spent on sustainable infrastructure between 2006 and 2010.

The city has hired planning manager Lesley Cabott to be its ICSP co-ordinator.

Cabott's planning position at the city will be taken over by Mike Gau.

Last year, Cabott said she had applied for the position because she wanted to participate in making Whitehorse a more sustainable community.

Cabott's work, to be done at the Smith House, is scheduled to last one year.

The Smith House, according to the Yukon Historical and Museums Association, is named after Jack Smith. He originally purchased the lot near the turn of the last century.

The house, according to the association, first appeared on the lot in 1905 as a house in two sections.

In 1906, the house was purchased by Billy Shaw, who worked for the British Yukon Navigation Company as a port steward.

The dwelling then became the property of A.P. Hawes, a veterinarian for White Pass and an inspector for the federal Department of Agriculture until 1909, when it was purchased by carpenter John French, who owned the house until 1941.

After nearly half a century of the house changing hands, the city purchased and refurbished the property in 1984.

The house has seen a variety of uses since 1984, including the headquarters for the Association of Yukon Communities.

Cabott could not be reached for comment.