The main level of the Pelissier St. parking garage will be transformed back into parking spaces.
Windsor City Council made the decision after only one party came forward interested in leasing the space for retail units. The space was advertised for lease over the summer.
"Unfortunately that submission did not rise to the minimum level set by the city, and believe me it was a very affordable rate," says Dilkens.
Council approved setting aside $500,000 to complete repair work on the garage if a tenant came forward to lease the ground floor. Since only the one expression of interest was submitting council decided to return the space to its original purpose.
"We've gone down every path that's reasonable, let's now do what we think we need and we know we need parking. We have the university going to be opening in the armouries we're going to have Catholic Central downtown , let's return that space to how it was originally built and it was built for parking," says Dilkens.
There are currently two retail tenants in the building who will be given six months to find a new location before construction begins to return the space to parking.
It will cost around $500,000 for the construction work, which will begin as soon as both tenants have vacated the space. The construction will provide around 50 additional spots in the garage.
