Post updated at 9:06 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10:
A majority of Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday indicated they generally supported a plan for the Lawrence Farmers Market to build a permanent pavilion in South Park, though they took no formal vote.
There are still plenty of lingering questions about the project.
“We all know the big question is, the more you build it, the more expensive it becomes, and the harder it actually becomes to happen,” Mayor Brad Finkeldei said. “… There’s no commitment here to pay for it or how to pay for it at this point, or how to operationalize it.”
If the market site were to locate in South Park, it would require some upkeep by city staff members, creating operational and maintenance expenses, Finkeldei said. But four of the five commissioners were generally on board with the idea.
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The market started 49 years ago as a weekly pop-up event in city parking lots. It has used a parking lot at 824 New Hampshire St. since 2008, but leaders have pushed for a permanent location for more than a decade.
The market’s top priorities for its permanent site include locating downtown, shelter from rain, electricity, access to water and drainage, parking for vendors and customers, a community gathering area, restrooms and more.
Following a feasibility study and community town halls, the project steering committee had been eyeing primarily Watson Park, along Seventh Street between Kentucky and Tennessee streets, and later South Park, along the northwest edge closest to Vermont Street, as the future site.
Steve Clark of Clark Huesemann, the local planning and architecture firm working on the project, told commissioners Tuesday a bit of what they’d heard from community members in their engagement prior to coming to their conclusion.
“We began to hear people say, ‘Well, why not South Park? That’s like the heart of the community,’” Clark said.
He said the pavilion has the potential to be used for other community events when it’s not in use for the market. Although the market’s current location could be a possibility, the project team doesn’t want to build the pavilion in a parking lot, where folks aren’t likely to want to hold graduation parties, musical performances and other such activities.
The team members said they hoped the commission would approve the site, and then the next step would be setting up a broader steering committee and starting the design process. However, the commission was not set to take a vote on anything connected to the project Tuesday.
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Commissioners indicated they agreed that the market does need a permanent location, and they thought the market should remain downtown.
Finkeldei said no matter what downtown location the market selected, there would be some people raising concerns.
He said he could see the market in South Park, although there are some drawbacks, such as parking limitations and taking away some green space. He said the commission had to discuss whether they were ready to commit to the site, and he was OK with the project team proceeding to their next step.
Commissioner Mike Dever said this could be a good opportunity for the city to work with Douglas County as a lot of the market’s vendors live outside of city limits.
“We’re incorporating a public space like a park into this design and making it more approachable for just random people walking by, who may start to go to the farmers market because of its new location,” Dever said.
Vice Mayor Mike Courtney said he saw the proposal as a “slippery slope” to lose more space in South Park.
“I feel very passionate that we should have this, but just not at South Park,” Courtney said. He noted that the Community Building is close by and wondered what the building could be like with a farmers market.
Commissioner Amber Sellers said the potential to involve the Community Building “has been something I have dreamed and loved about this project from its beginning.”
“I feel like this is a space that’s been calling because, again, it then forces us to think about what we could do to usher in something new for the Community Building,” Sellers said.
Commissioner Kristine Polian said she wasn’t committed to any one location and the commission would need to know the location, but she would “give a nod” to South Park for now.
Finkeldei also said if the commission learned that big community events would no longer be held in South Park if the market were to construct a permanent location there, he would want to know that beforehand.
Commissioners heard from 15 members of the public about the market proposal. Most mentioned that they support the market and the South Park proposal, though a few said they had concerns about losing the green space.
Kim Murphree, who sings with the band Kim and the Quake, said she loves the market but she wondered if there had been an investigation into the possibility of an impermanent structure that wouldn’t require concrete to be poured in the park.
One vendor, Karen Hanneman of Queen of Tarts, told commissioners that the lack of a shelter structure at the market means she spends her weeks checking the forecast to determine whether she needs to bake.
During the markets when it’s raining, “Our margins are so slim that it doesn’t make any sense to be there, and people don’t get their fresh food, and we also don’t get our income for the week,” Hanneman said.
“I don’t think it’s going to be such an impact that it will diminish the park. I hope it will only embellish the park,” she said.
Read more background on the project in the articles at this link.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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