UNION GROVE - The Village's long-planned downtown makeover is finally bearing visible fruit.

Contractors finished demolishing five buildings on 10th Avenue between Main and State streets last week to make way for new commercial and residential property.

That now-empty lot sits diagonally across the street from the red brick strip of storefronts known as the Downtown Depot, a nearly-complete renovation with a turn-of-the-century railroad theme.

The newly-cleared lot will house two buildings: one with businesses on the first story and residential space on the second story, and another four-unit residential property.

The two areas represent the centerpiece of a vision for downtown redevelopment which has been six years in the making, said Village President Mike Aimone.

The Downtown Depot should be finished within a month, said developer Ken Vioski, and officials hope that redevelopment on the recently-demolished area will be done by next spring. New businesses have already committed to renting space in both locations.

The Village bought the properties on 10th and Main for $400,000, and spent a little more demolishing the area. When renovation is done, that area's value will be $2.5 million, he said.

A number of other businesses on Main Street are joining in on the redevelopment plans by applying for "facade grants," improvements to local properties for which the Village will match half the cost, up to $7,500.

The need for a revamped downtown has been talked about for a while. Community Development Authority Chairman Gordon Svendsen called the area around the two big projects the "heart" of Union Grove's downtown. "Once the heart stops beating, it kind of kills the community," he said.

In 2005 the planners' vision became a formal, village-approved Downtown Revitalization Plan.

But that was before a calculation issue impeded the Village's plans to spend TIF District money for nearly a year. A legal change caused the Village to break a state TIF District law, and it took a bill granting Union Grove an exemption to fix it.

Once that was sorted out in late 2007, it was a case of "Where do you start?", Aimone said. Planners had to pick a location, look for property owners who would sell property to the village, and find developers willing to take on new projects. Not to mention the studies to ensure there would be no environmental damage.

So the plan has been a lesson in patience, Aimone said. But the physical changes are the culmination of a project which Aimone thinks will set the Village apart, because it's bringing in new stores during a recession.

With these projects in place, Aimone said, "Union Grove is open for business."