Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Patrons of downtown Wixom now have a new place to grab a drink and go. The old Wixom Bar has joined the city’s growing Junction social district, which will soon boast a new park and other improvements.

"People can go to a participating establishment that has a liquor license, they can get a beer, cocktail, wine, whatever, and leave the premises with their cocktail in a Junction cup and walk around our downtown," says Laura Cloutier, executive director of Wixom's Downtown Development Authority.

West End Commons will be located on Old Wixom Road, bordering Wainstock Street and Pontiac Trail.

"Now, they'll be able to visit this new park that will have activities, seating and 'band shell,' for lack of a better word. So, we plan on having entertainment there year-round, periodically."

But Cloutier says the expansion doesn't stop there.

"We're looking for a developer to build a mixed use retail to add to our downtown," she says. "We have over 500 new homes in downtown and residents. It's a very busy place."

Cloutier says the city of Wixom has slowly been expanding its downtown since plans were put in motion about 25 years ago.

"Our downtown actually burned down in 1925, and nobody did anything to rebuild it. Then, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the city got together to make a plan to start rebuilding the downtown, and we have been expanding on that ever since."

Click the links below for more details on Wixom's West End Commons and Junction social district.