MT. VERNON (WMIX) – The City of Mt. Vernon is moving forward with the development of land that was once the home of the Register-News.

During Monday night’s city council meeting, Mayor John Lewis said the development will bring more shops and restaurants downtown.

The project is expected to cost approximately $4 million with just over half the money coming from the downtown TIF district and the rest through the city.

Lewis said the city put in place some financing for the project Monday and it went out for bid to better see how much the project will cost.

The mayor expects ground to be broken in the spring and construction to be completed on this phase in the fall.

He noted this will just be a starting point on the project that they want to continue to grow.