North Perth will be opening a new parkette in downtown Listowel this year.
Manager of Strategic Initiatives, Jessica McLean, says the new park space will be located on Main Street in Listowel.
"So the parkette will be located on a section of the municipally owned parking lot that's on Main Street East in Listowel between the TD Bank and Ward and Uptigrove buildings. Economic development staff are currently in discussions with the vendor regarding the project timeline and other details. It's not anticipated that work will begin before August at this time," McLean explained.
The project was part of the 2023 budget, and had an approved budget of $179,620, but McLean shares that it came in far below that.
"That was for the construction portions of the project. Council approved to award the tender to Avion Construction Group at the price of $117,531 so that did fall below the approved budget," added McLean.
McLean says they hope that it becomes a public meeting area to be used by everyone.
"With some outdoor dining and other furnishings, such as benches and trash receptacles, some landscaping and some trees. So it will be kind of a gathering space with the goal of beautifying the downtown area. This was originally approved by council as part of the Streetscape Master Plan," noted McLean.
The new parkette will open later this year with construction underway in the fall. It also received contributions from the Libro Credit Union and Listowel BIA.