TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) — The City of Tonawanda is giving its downtown area a facelift, Tuesday officials announced a new construction project for an inter-modal hub.

City officials are transforming a 4 1/2 acre parking lot into a hub for bicyclists. The lot overlooks the Erie Canal and it’s in easy access to several major bike trails.

Officials told News 4 the hub will have a bathroom and changing station for visitors, a bicycle repair area on the lot, bike racks and vending machines.

It’s been a project in the works for the past 18 months and with thousands of dollars in grant money, the city said very little city funds will be used on the project.

The project will go out to bid later this month with construction expected to start late spring to early summer.

The mayor said it’s the perfect location for a communal area while also cleaning up a key section of downtown.

“Between the inter-modal hub and the main street program kicking off, this is an exciting time for the central business district here in the City of Tonawanda. We have amazing public access to our waterfront that is the envy of other communities in western New York and it’s important to continue to look for ways to improve that access,” said Mayor Rick Davis.

The total cost of the project is about $950,000. Officals expect construction to be completed by the end of this year’s construction season.