A local entrepreneur hopes to return a building on Wyandotte Street to its former glory.
Graeme Thompson and Thompson Asset Management are transforming the building on the northwest corner of Wyandotte Street and Parent Avenue into a boutique hotel.
The building was called the Wyandotte Hotel in 1909 and will now be named the West Walkerville Hotel. It will feature a themed restaurant and 23 themed rooms.
"This was a project that we loved to take on because we saw a number of beautiful characteristics with the building and the design and we really wanted to restore it to something that people would talk about and people would want to go to," said Thompson.
Wyandotte Town Centre BIA Chairperson Larry Horwitz said this transformation is a sign of the neighbourhood's revitalization.
"This is a very prime example of what can happen to this area. There's a lot of historic buildings and people who really look to the basis of what the building was once can figure out what the future could be," said Horwitz. "This whole area can be rebuilt in a way that attracts tourism that attracts people from all over Essex County"
Thompson hopes to have the hotel open by the fall.