[media-credit name=”Andrea Connell” align=”aligncenter” width=”600″]
The Guelph Farmers’ Market is on the move – temporarily. The City of Guelph is undertaking major renovations to the market’s current home at 2 Gordon Street this summer.
During renovations, the Farmers’ Market will be relocated to Exhibition Arena, located at 70 Exhibition Street. The market will be operating at the arena every Saturday from 7 a.m. until noon beginning June 15 through to August 15, 2013. The arena is approximately two kilometres north of the current market location.
“Exhibition Arena was identified as the most desirable alternate venue for the Farmers’ Market because it can accommodate all the vendors, has indoor and outdoor space, has ample parking and is located relatively close to the downtown core,” explained Mario Petricevic, General Manager of Corporate Building Maintenance.
The market’s current facility requires; floor recoating, an accessible washroom, wall painting, installation of new vendor partitions and millwork, plumbing modifications, office renovations, installations of fire suppression and exhaust hoods, an upgrade to the entrance vestibule and doors, fixes to cracked concrete and coating of the foundation wall according to a City of Guelph press release.
To accommodate customers parking and transportation needs during the renovations, the City is offering free parking at the Fountain Street lot and a shuttle service to and from the Exhibition Arena. There is also free onsite parking at the arena and on nearby streets.
During a visit to the market on May 4, some patrons were asked what they thought of the temporary relocation. Shopper Betty Smith, said, “It might be a good move, we may get new people who have never visited the market before to make it a habit.” Another patron had other concerns, “I don’t know about the shift even if it is temporary. Will a different location affect the type of people that normally come to the market? Will they keep coming after it moves back?”
Exhibition Street resident Justine Dainard said she was thrilled the market was coming to the neighbourhood for the summer. Dainard, a Guelph Museum volunteer, said Exhibition Park started its life as an exhibition ground for agricultural celebration and “it was lovely that it gets to revisit its history for a summer.” The fact that the market will be right across the street from her home will make it easy for her to pop over on Saturday mornings. As for concerns about parking issues in the mostly residential neighbourhood, she has none.
“Any additional demand for market parking, only one morning a week, can’t be any greater than summer softball tournaments that can last a whole weekend. Frankly, the canned music that the ballpark pumps out at high volume during practices once or twice a week is more annoying than extra cars parked on the street. And isn’t that what a park is for? To be filled with people? It’s not a conservation area.”