A popular pedestrian plaza in Corona is about to get a massive multi-million dollar makeover. NY1's Leisha Majtan filed this report on what’s to come.

It's years in the making. Community leaders and the Departments of Transportation and Design and Construction celebrated the groundbreaking of what will be the "new Corona Plaza" Monday.

Those who grew up in the neighborhood say this space on Roosevelt Avenue and 103rd Street was always a location to gather.

But they say this will be a welcomed improvement.

"It was a city-mapped street but it wasn't really. It was very odd. It was still Roosevelt Avenue even though it was adjacent to it so people weren't sure what it exactly was. So by sealing off the plaza, it became much more community related," said Corona native Christian Cassagnol, the current District Manager for Community Board 4.

The 32,000 square-foot space used to be a service road.

In 2012, the D.O.T. blocked off traffic and turned it into a pedestrian plaza.

It's evolved over the years to include tables, chairs, and free WiFi, but this $5.6M project is the biggest one to date.

"This is officially going to be exactly what the community deserves and that's green space for our neighborhood," said Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland.

Not only will the new plaza include new lighting, bike racks, and seating, but plans also include a performance space.

The Queens Museum has provided programming here for years but officials say a dedicated stage will bring it to the next level.

"It means that we will even be able to do stuff out of season and expand the programming profile,” said David Strauss, the Deputy Director of the Queens Museum. “A plaza is fantastic -- a great way to get away -- but when it's activated it really encourages constructive time."

And with traffic passing through Corona to get to hot-spots like Citi Field and the New York Hall of Science, Cassagnol says he hopes the plaza will bring growth to the neighborhood he loves.

"We have a lot of local businesses that just don't really benefit from the amount of tourism we get and we hope that Corona Plaza will be the gateway to bring that," added Cassagnol.

Construction is expected to be completed by Spring of next year.