Fulton Street Farmer's Market

[Sailor]

I've read the study done by the urban planning students at MSU and have heard through other sources that an expansion and remodeling are in the works. Does anyone have any updates?

[Rhino6885]

I've read the study done by the urban planning students at MSU and have heard through other sources that an expansion and remodeling are in the works. Does anyone have any updates?

We discussed this awhile back in the Brickyaat thread...I think. I believe that it could really benefit from an upgrade...especially with the trend of eating locally growing by the day. Has anybody seen it on a Saturday morning lately? TONS of people!

[pr sc]

As long as they never shut it down!! If I ever am able to visit GR again, that would be one of my most important stops. I live in a military / tourist / retirement town and I always brag about and recommend a stop there to people I meet that may travel through GR. I've never seen a better market.

[Veloise]

We discussed this awhile back in the Brickyaat thread...I think. I believe that it could really benefit from an upgrade...especially with the trend of eating locally growing by the day. Has anybody seen it on a Saturday morning lately? TONS of people!

Here are pics posted by GRDad therein.

[GRDadof3]

Here are pics posted by GRDad therein.

Those were from a design charette that was done, so I don't know if they are actively soliciting developers/investors to make the addition and renovation.

[suydam]

As long as they never shut it down!! If I ever am able to visit GR again, that would be one of my most important stops. I live in a military / tourist / retirement town and I always brag about and recommend a stop there to people I meet that may travel through GR. I've never seen a better market.

In my opinion the Fulton St. market is a great thing to have...but it cannot hold a candle to other farmer's markets I've visited.

I'd say the setup at Holland is much nicer and less crowded, the market in Kalamazoo is about the same size as GR with a similar selection.

Further afield you have the semi-permanent farmer's markets like West Side in Cleveland and Eastern Market in Detroit.

Finally, you haven't visited an outdoor farmer's market to remember until you strolled the capitol square on a saturday morning in Madison, Wisconsin.

Eating Well Magazine rates the Mad-town market tops in the nation. While I've never been to the others in their list, I have to agree it's the best I've seen. Their full writeup is a decent read.

GR's market is fine, don't get me wrong....it's just not unique (at least in my experience).

If you're looking for a market near you, try localharvest.org

[Ted]

In my opinion the Fulton St. market is a great thing to have...but it cannot hold a candle to other farmer's markets I've visited.

Well, that's why we have a lot of work to do.

[pr sc]

Well, that's why we have a lot of work to do.

Unless it's gone downhill in the last several years, it was always my experience that the produce and other items available were what make the market what it is. Couldn't beat it. It wasn't exactly beautiful to look at it but, that wasn't really the point.

[GRDadof3]

Unless it's gone downhill in the last several years, it was always my experience that the produce and other items available were what make the market what it is. Couldn't beat it. It wasn't exactly beautiful to look at it but, that wasn't really the point.

I don't know, all the different colored tarps draped over those steel frames adds a little charm.

We go every Saturday, and it's always packed. Plus, we like that the vendors are out in force on Saturdays, cramming every open spot and then some.

[pr sc]

I don't know, all the different colored tarps draped over those steel frames adds a little charm.

We go every Saturday, and it's always packed. Plus, we like that the vendors are out in force on Saturdays, cramming every open spot and then some.

Then ya know what I mean! All of that is what made it so cool, to me.

[thebeerqueer]

Unless it's gone downhill in the last several years, it was always my experience that the produce and other items available were what make the market what it is. Couldn't beat it. It wasn't exactly beautiful to look at it but, that wasn't really the point.

pr sc, I have to agree with you the produce/dairy/meat/goods are hands down, unbeatable. The prices are better than any of the local grocery stores and the flavor is stunning. I walk there almost every Saturday and am quite pleased with my purchases. With that being said, the whole place could use a little sprucing up and the addition of new booths for additional vendors. I like the feeling of how busy it is on Saturday, getting close with rest of the excited shoppers, gives me a feeling of connection with everyone there, IMO.

Sounds like you (and your tourism dollars) need to come for a visit, perhaps for the Fall apple harvest??

[pr sc]

pr sc, I have to agree with you the produce/dairy/meat/goods are hands down, unbeatable. The prices are better than any of the local grocery stores and the flavor is stunning. I walk there almost every Saturday and am quite pleased with my purchases. With that being said, the whole place could use a little sprucing up and the addition of new booths for additional vendors. I like the feeling of how busy it is on Saturday, getting close with rest of the excited shoppers, gives me a feeling of connection with everyone there, IMO.

Sounds like you (and your tourism dollars) need to come for a visit, perhaps for the Fall apple harvest??

Instead, I'll probably be looking to have some Robinette's shipped down here! With rapidly aging Mom in FL, I use all vacation time to visit her because she no longer travels anywhere. I'll get to GR again someday..... Wish I had some of those tourism dollars, by the way - working for attorneys as paralegal had paid me well enough but, nothing compared to some of those smart business owners down here!

[ericnmu]

Finally, you haven't visited an outdoor farmer's market to remember until you strolled the capitol square on a saturday morning in Madison, Wisconsin.

I'm there every week, and I absolutely love it.

[Veloise]

... the whole place could use a little sprucing up and the addition of new booths for additional vendors. I like the feeling of how busy it is on Saturday, getting close with rest of the excited shoppers, gives me a feeling of connection with everyone there, IMO.

...

The HQ building (red brick, fronting on Fulton) contains the neighborhood assn office. They have renderings of the proposed (stick built, with walls and roofs) buildings and overall market plan.

[Mark Miller]

Below is the revised Brikyaat Neighborhood Development Plan, which was adopted as an amendment to the city master plan on July 10th. It is the first area specific plan to be adopted as an amendment to the Grand Rapids Master Plan. The plan has also won the 2007 AIAGV honor award for regional and urban design and the 2007 GVMC Blueprint Award.

Here is an aerial perspective with the farmers market in the foreground. I am sure this was posted somewhere else.

[fotoman311]

I posted this in the Green Grand Rapids forum, but I thought I'd put it here, for those who don't scan that.

There will be an update on the future renovations to the Fulton St. Farmer's Market at the Midtown Neighborhood Association meeting this coming Monday, 11/17.

The Annual Meeting scheduled for Oct 20 2008 has been rescheduled. Please be sure to attend the Annual Meeting on November 17th at 6pm. We ask residents to meet at the Salvation Army Fulton Heights Citadel, at Fulton and Fuller, on the upper level in the Library.

A presentation by Christine Helms-Maletic, Brikyaat Project Director, of the recently completed Projects for Public Spaces assessment of the Fulton Street Farmers Market will take place at 6:15pm. This presentation will be beneficial to anyone who lives or works near the market or is a patron of the market.

Board of DIrectors elections will take place following the presentation. There are a several open seats. If you have accounting skills and are interested in being the treasurer, please contact our community organizer, Kelly Otto, to find out more.

I know that the drawings that I saw in a recent MNA newsletter were not nearly as grand as the designs above. But they would still be a big step above the current situation. If I recall, Lott3Metz name was on them, so perhaps Ted has a copy he can post.

[fotoman311]

Project for Public Spaces Final Fulton St. Market Report!

As promised, here it is: http://www.midtowngr.com/archives/63

There is a lot of good stuff in there, including some interesting case studies on other markets that use some of the ideas that they recommend (including the Flint Market). And some proposed layouts for using the limited space we have.

There is one photo with a "play" fountain (like the one in Gaslight Village, only kids are playing in it) and I really love the idea of having one of those in the plaza/market entrance area. I just don't know if there is room or how much it would cost to build, maintain, and operate.

[Veloise]

Tomorrow at 2pm-ish, Sen. Levin will be touring the market. I get the impression that this has something to do with the fund-raising effort currently underway.

Stop by and say hi. He's the "thinning" rumpled guy with the reader specs.

[GRDadof3]

Tomorrow at 2pm-ish, Sen. Levin will be touring the market. I get the impression that this has something to do with the fund-raising effort currently underway.

Stop by and say hi. He's the "thinning" rumpled guy with the reader specs.

You mean The Penguin?

[fotoman311]

At the Midtown Neighborhood Association meeting tonight, we got an update on this project. It is slowly moving forward. We tentatively approved a contract between the MNA and the City that will give us the right to develop a vastly improved Farmer's Market infrastructure on the City's land in return for a 20 year contract to run the market with an option for a 10 year extension. Currently the MNA has a 3 year lease with the city that ends in 2010 that is renewable two times (9 years total).

I won't bore you with all the details, but the timeline in the agreement specifies that we will attempt to secure funding for the design and engineering costs this fall and winter so that we can have a comprehensive budget for construction and operation in place by June 30, 2010. This is the date by which we should have pretty renderings to show off.

This will kick off our capital campaign, with a goal to have necessary funding raised by June 2011 with construction to begin in November 2011 and be completed by the following spring. There is some flexibility specified for some of the deadlines if fundraising goals are not able to be met, but we are confident that the community and our local foundations will support this great improvement of a treasured Grand Rapids institution. I am so happy to live in this neighborhood!

The plan is to move forward in a couple of different phases with the site redesign and covered canopy portion likely being built in the first phase. Then the headhouse, which will provide ~1600+ sq ft of year round retail space, handicap accessible restrooms, a public meeting area, and offices for market, will be built in the second phase. If fundraising for the for the first phase goes smashingly well and we have enough money to build it all, then that is a possibility as well.

More info about the recommended phasing can be found in the Project for Public Spaces Feasibility study that MNA conducted. http://www.midtowngr.com/wp-content/upload...report_2008.pdf

The FSFM Development Committee had their first meeting last Monday and will be meeting monthly to keep the project moving forward. Big thanks are due to Kevin Hayes, who is the committee chair, and Christine Helms-Maletic, who is heading the fundraising efforts and keeping tabs on everything.

A couple of other FSFM notes:

--A fantastic bit of news in relation to the FSFM is that our new implementation of the EBT/Debit Card machine has been a smashing success. We have run over $13,000 in EBT transactions, making fresh food available to low-income families who do not always have easy access to healthy foods. We have also run over $16,000 in Debit card transactions, providing a valuable service to customers who did not bring enough cash. Both of these services put more money in the vendors pockets and support our local food economy. A big thanks goes to the Dyer-Ives Foundation for funding this initiative.

If you didn't know the service was available, all you need to do is stop by the office at the Fulton St end of the market and you can use the debit card machine to withdraw "cash" in the form of $5 wooden tokens. Spend the tokens at the Market. Vendors will give you change in cash when you use the tokens.

--The Sunday Artisans Market has really come into its own this year, with record participation from artists and shoppers. Nearly every Sunday almost 3/4-all of the booths have been full for this great event. Stop by from 11am-3pm on Sundays. Tonight we voted to extend the season an additional week, so the Artisans Market will run until Sunday, October 4th.

We stopped by for the AARF doggie special event two weeks ago and the place was packed with people! It was a great place to be and to shop.

[John E]

Grand Rapids officials may clear way for Fulton Street Farmers Market improvements

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michiga...ls_may_cle.html

~John

[GRguy]

Wow, they are spending $200 grand to design bathrooms and a roof. Times must be good in Grand Rapids that you can not get architectural fees for less than that.

[Ted]

Wow, they are spending $200 grand to design bathrooms and a roof. Times must be good in Grand Rapids that you can not get architectural fees for less than that.

If only...enjoy your time away, Brian.

[GRguy]

Enjoy your cozy relationship with the neighborhood group, Ted.

[GRDadof3]

Wow, they are spending $200 grand to design bathrooms and a roof. Times must be good in Grand Rapids that you can not get architectural fees for less than that.

Parking. Don't forget all the new parking.