City Updates About Farmers' Market Renovations

The summertime renovations of the Farmers' Market's downtown location has not been without controversy; many of the downtown businesses have been irked by the inconvenience and loss of foot traffic, while I've heard from some people that new locale in the arena at Exhibition Park is an improvement over the the old Gordon Street building. But whether you like the Exhibition Park locale or not, one thing is certain, and that's the Farmers' Market will be heading back downtown to its renovation digs next month, and the City of Guelph today put out an update on the constriction.

Farmers' Market Moving to Exhibition Park for Summer

That headline probably speaks for itself, but get the full details from the city's press release after the jump: 

Welcome Back, Farmers Market!

After what's been a relatively smooth inter-repair period, The Guelph Farmers' Market comes home this Saturday to its original location on Gordon St. City workers were sprucing up the front today with a banner and a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man. Here's the City's press release on the subject:

GUELPH, ON, March 3, 2011 – The Guelph Farmers' Market will return to its original location at the corner of Gordon Street and Waterloo Avenue on Saturday March 5.

The structural repairs to the roof were completed on March 1. The structural engineer and the City's building inspector inspected the site and have declared the building safe to occupy.

"We are extremely pleased that the repairs were completed on time," said Derek McCaughan, Executive Director, Operations and Transit. "The transition to City Hall when the Market building was declared unsafe was not without its challenges. Without the dedication and perseverance of City staff, the continued success of the Market during this period would not have been possible. We thank the vendors for their patience and of course the market shoppers for their phenomenal support during this transition."

The market operated from within City Hall every Saturday since December while the roof was being repaired. The temporary location at City Hall saw close to 3000 shoppers each Saturday.

The Guelph Farmers' Market will be open at its original location at 7 a.m. on Saturday, March 5.

Farnmer's Market Update

The Mayor updated the situation with the Farmers' Market today on her blog: 

I had an e-mail from a patron of the Farmers’ Market this morning asking about the timeline for the structural repairs. Here is the most recent information:

The tender was awarded the week of December 20^th, 2010. A purchase order has been issued to RusCan General Contracting Inc. of Concord, Ontario. 

At this time, the completion date will be the end of February at best, however, staff are working with the general contractor to find ways of improving on this date.

The completion date relies heavily on the delivery of the steel channels which need to be cut to length and pre-drilled in the shop before they arrive on site. The general contractor is working with the steel fabricator to nail down this date. Once we have this information, I will provide another update.

Christmas at the Farmers' Market (Sort of)

I give the City credit, despite the zaniness of the situation, the Farmers' Market relocation to the City Hall seems to have been well received by patrons and many of the vendors. So with some degree of stability for the Market now secure, there comes this news:

GUELPH, ON, December 17, 2010 – There will be a special holiday Farmers' Market in the market's temporary location in City Hall Thursday, 1 Carden Street, December 23 from 6 to 10 p.m.

The holiday market replaces regular market day on Saturday, December 25.

Shoppers can buy fresh, local food and produce direct from growers, and pick up special, handmade gift items for the holidays. Seasonal entertainment will be on hand, helping create a festive atmosphere.

Parking for the special holiday market is available in the Wilson and Fountain Street lots, and in front of City Hall on Carden Street.

The Farmers' Market will be closed on Christmas day (December 25) and New Year's Day (January 1.)

Renege and Renewal

It seems that the foyer of City Hall is more spacious than originally thought. According to the City, the Farmers' Market will he held entirely indoors at City Hall, and along with that is news that meat vendors will be able to sell frozen meat, which is, at least, a step up from not being able to sell any meat at all. Here's the latest from the City:

GUELPH, ON, December 9, 2010 – Most Farmers' Market vendors—including many meat and all produce vendors—will be able to sell their products in City Hall while roof repairs are undertaken to the market building at the corner of Gordon Street and Waterloo Avenue.

This update comes after more work by City staff to keep the market under one roof and accommodate as many vendors as possible during a temporary shut-down of the market building, and after the City announced Tuesday it would accommodate craft vendors within City Hall and produce vendors in the Wilson Street parking lot.

"Yesterday afternoon the Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health Unit confirmed that meat vendors can sell from within City Hall as long as they meet certain requirements," says Derek McCaughan, the City's Executive Director, Operations & Transit. "This means we'll be able to accommodate many meat vendors and all produce vendors within City Hall rather than excluding them or having them sell from the Wilson Street parking lot."

Raw meat vendors will still be able to come to market and sell their product provided it's frozen or pre-packaged, which would make it compliant with health regulations. "This was well-received by some of the market's meat vendors," said McCaughan.

To accommodate more than 70 vendors, the City is making all of its ground floor meeting rooms available, along with the lobby of City Hall.

The City only learned of the extent of the risk associated with continuing to operate the Farmers' Market from its original building last Wednesday, creating an urgent need to relocate the market. City staff has been working diligently ever since to find a solution that would allow the market to continue to operate in an alternate location.

The Guelph Farmers' Market will be open and operating from within City Hall every Saturday beginning this week until repairs to the market building’s roof are complete.

The City continues to liaise with market vendors to inform them of changing information and provide details about the transition.

Repairs to the market building’s roof are expected to take eight to ten weeks.

Well, You Can't Say That They Didn't Fix the Problem (or can you?)

The City continued to struggle this morning, trying to find a new location for the Farmers' Market after some dusty old bus barn was, surprisingly, declared unsuitable for the weekly market. And since, apparently, the roof of the Market will collapse if you even breathe on it wrong, a new location was desperately needed. Ask and ye shall receive, but only so long as you don't look a gift horse in the mouth in this case.

You can read the full press release below, but in brief it says that arts & crafts vendors will get City Hall, while vendors selling produce will be set up across the street in the Wilson Street Parking Lot. Vendors requiring hot or cold water are out of luck, and I can't imagine that anybody selling meat and cheese is going to be able to accommodated either. And while were at it, how are the people setting up in the Wilson St. parking lot supposed to feel about this arrangement. Nothing like frostbitten fruits and veggies, am I right?

Is this seriously the best possible solution? I know time's of the essence here, but no one at City Hall could maybe take an extra day and think of something better than this? 

At the same time, there are still a number of outstanding questions about why the roof on the Farmer's Market building was allowed to get to such a horrible state of decay. An article in today's Mercury offered little in the way of new information from the City, and even the man in charge seemed to not know a lot about what was going on. “Right now people want answers that are not available. And they’re getting anxious that they don’t know what’s happening, and I understand that,” said executive director of operations and transit, Derek McCaughan.

In the vacuum of actual information, speculation and threats are trying to fill the void. A post to the Mercury's 59 Carden St blog posited a conspiracy theory that the Farmers' Market is being pushed out by the City, and in this morning's Mercury article it seems like that's going to happen pretty eventually as some vendors are talking about not coming back to the Farmers' Market building when it reopens.  
There are so many questions and not enough answers, and the answers being given are utterly unsatisfactory.

GUELPH, ON, December 7, 2010 – The Guelph Farmers' Market building at the corner of Gordon Street and Waterloo Avenue is now closed until repairs to its roof are complete.

Public safety continues to be of paramount importance to the City of Guelph. Based on a recent structural assessment of the building, the City of Guelph—which owns the farmers’ market facility—is of the opinion there is sufficient engineering evidence and professional advice to warrant closing the building in the interest of public safety.

Arts and craft vendors will be invited to relocate to the lobby of City Hall, and produce vendors will relocate to the Wilson Street parking lot. Unfortunately, vendors who require hot and cold water for the operation of their booth cannot be accommodated at either location. The City will be meeting with these vendors as soon as possible.

The Guelph Farmers' Market will be open and operating at these two locations every Saturday until repairs to the market building’s roof are complete. Free two-hour parking will be maintained in the Wilson Street lot.

The City is in the process of contacting each market vendor to inform them of the new location and provide details about the transition.

Repairs to the market building’s roof are expected to take eight to ten weeks.

The City of Guelph encourages the community to continue to support farmers’ market vendors during this time of transition.

Farmer's Market on (Temporary) Move

If you're one of numerous Guelphites that take advantage of the Farmers' Market every Saturday morning, you're going to have to factor in additional travel time for the next 8-10 weeks. That's the time it will take for the city to make appropriate repairs to the roof of the building that currently houses the Market. But the question is, where can people go to get their farm fresh meat and produce directly from the farmers for the next two months or more?

Well, pending health inspections and approvals, the Farmers' Market looks likely to be moving to an old bus barn on Municipal St. 12 Municipal St. to be exact. Of course, as Derek McCaughan, the city’s director of operations and transit pointed out at a meeting with Farmer's Market vendors on Saturday, “This could all fall apart at the 11th hour.”

 If you read the Guelph Mercury article in today's paper, you might get the impression that the City doesn't seem too "with it" in regards to the very serious issue of the Market's building's safety. Moreover, it seemed to come as surprise to everyone that a change of venue was coming, and a logistical nightmare for some of the vendors who have to, let's say, move their heavy and expensive refrigeration units and then have to move them back in a couple of months. 

My question is why wasn't this discovered before winter set in and after the first snow had already fallen. If even a couple of centimetres of snow is all it takes to bring down the proverbial house of cards, isn't that the kind of structural flaw that would have showed up long before December. I seem to remember getting a lot of rain this fall. Nothing? 

Anyway, if the City's plan (such as it is) goes forward, the Farmers' Market will be at 12 Municipal this Saturday. Here's a map:

View Larger Map

Seems kind of far, doesn't it? Not to worry, because the City is apparently going to provide shuttle buses. Not to be one of those guys, but honestly, how is that going to affect the bottom line?