A couple of buildings are coming down in uptown Leamington.
The Municipality of Leamington is signing off on a $290,000 purchase of two uptown buildings as part of a project to expand an existing parquette.
The walkway between Talbot St. W and Mill St. is known as Shotten Park.
"We are going to expand that parquette area into a much nicer, bigger area," says Leamington Mayor John Paterson. "Benches, tables and proper lighting, trees and stuff like that to make it a really nice pedestrian-friendly area from Mill St. to Talbot."
Two buildings to the west are set to be demolished, likely within the next 30 days.
A further $250,000 has been earmarked for improvements to Mill St., which will cover the added landscaping planned for the refreshed Shotten Park.
Paterson says the municipality has been pushing for a change in the uptown for sometime, and feels it's time to take a more active leadership role.
"Council has been very, very patient with the uptown property owners," says Paterson. "We've been encouraging them through the [Community Improvement Plan] grant program that we had to improve their properties and some have been taking advantage. We have some very positive results from that."
The sale was publicly announced on Monday evening, although Paterson says the deal still needs to close before wrecking crews move in and plans for the expanded park are drawn up.