Demolition of the AMA Arena in Amherstburg begins Monday.
The town has contracted Jones Group Ltd. to demolish the arena.
Mayor Aldo DiCarlo says the demolition of the arena will pave the way for future developments.
He says residents' thoughts about the demolition vary.
"In simple terms, it's an end of an era. I talked to some seniors who tell me some stories about way before I remember. I can tell you that generations of families have a lot of good memories there," says DiCarlo.
He says the old arena no longer fits the town's needs.
"The simple answer is times change. Demand changes and things get old and it just was not practical to try and add a second ice pad there which the town desperately needed. Thus, we now have the new Libro Centre, a phenomenal facility and thus the old arena has got to go," says DiCarlo.
He says there are several possible uses for the land, once the arena is gone.
"At this point it probably would be surplus property. I think we mentioned before that it is a possible location for a new high school. I can not say for sure whether for the school board it would fit their model. We should know that fairly soon as well and outside of that I guess we would have to look at that when we know where the new school is going," adds DiCarlo.
The project is expected to take around four to five weeks to complete.