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.