PETOSKEY, MI -- The City of Petoskey has worked for years to purchase a piece of property that they say could be a key element to continued downtown growth.

After a quarter of a century, the land is theirs.

The city says an old railroad corridor could tie in perfectly with downtown.

"We wanted to be downtown anyways, but that kind of pushed us to this building," said owner of North Country Cycle Sports Bo Mayfield.

When Mayfield looked to expand his business last year, he chose Petoskey.  When he looked for places to put his shop, next to the old tracks made a lot of sense. 

"It’s certainly something to give additional identity throughout the downtown area, and to give people a reason to come to Petoskey to visit downtown," said Petoskey City Manager Dan Ralley.

For the last 25 years, the city's plan has been simple; buy the seldom-used downtown rail corridor.  The reality hasn’t been simple, because an agreement for purchase was tough to come by.  But now, the 1.2 mile stretch is theirs, $895,000 and a quarter of a century later.

"It’s an important corridor through the downtown area, so I think it's an important piece of property to acquire for the future of our downtown in Petoskey," said Ralley.

Grants paid for the majority of the acquisition.  Petoskey put $80,000 toward the purchase.  And now they own it, plans are in the works.  The city will leave the tracks, but use the last nearby to create a "linear-park" path, for people to walk, bikes to ride, and other do recreational activities.  It will connect one side of town to the other by going right down the middle.

"It is a great advantage to our downtown, will really bring the focus back to our downtown," said Petoskey Area Chamber of Commerce Director Carlin Smith.

The long term goals are to put the tracks back to use.

"The city had previously purchased a trolley, intending to use that trolley on these rails as a means o move people through the downtown area," said Ralley.

"Having a way people can ride or bike, walk into town, it's just going to be fantastic," said Mayfield.

Ralley says now the purchase is complete, the city will start exploring funding for the projects.