Market seeks mid-week opening

Farmers market officials want to attract downtown workers with a Wednesday market at a new location.

By CHRISTINA HEADRICK

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 27, 2001

CLEARWATER -- The Downtown Clearwater Farmers Market was created six years ago to lure people downtown on Saturdays. But now the seasonal market sees its future in Wednesdays.

The board of the non-profit corporation that runs the market wants to switch days to capitalize on the thousands of employees who work downtown but don't venture back for the weekend market, said Bob Fernandez, a retired grocery store executive who manages the event.

The market's board -- led by Fernandez's wife, Pat -- also recently voted to move to a new location, Fernandez said.

If the city approves, the market intends to leave Station Square Park on Cleveland Street -- where parking spaces can be hard to find during weekdays -- and open Wednesday mornings in a city-owned, grass parking lot on the southeast corner of Pierce Street and East Avenue.

"We're excited about trying to do it on a weekday because it does work in other places," Fernandez said. "It would really be an advantage because we'd have people downtown already.

"Some Saturdays we have had 400 to 500 people. But it's kind of like at a level where it's not going to change much, and we'd like to look for bigger and better things."

Fernandez envisions downtown office workers shopping the market early in the morning or on lunch break, then stashing their groceries in an office fridge to take home later.

The market traditionally has been open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday from late October through April, and it attracts up to 30 vendors who sell their wares under tents. It would probably have the same hours if it moved to Wednesday this year, Fernandez said.

Changing the event requires city approval, and that has not yet been given. Concerns have been raised by department directors, including the police chief, about losing the parking the grass lot provides city vehicles.

Diane Smith, the city's Main Street program coordinator, said that she is meeting with other city administrators to discuss the move.

Several other weekday locations for the market have already been considered and discarded, Smith said.

The market originally was interested in moving to Coachman Park, but city special events coordinators felt that might conflict with other city events and possibly harm the grass there.

Another suggested location was on land leading to the Clearwater Memorial Causeway, but then it was discovered that the tract will be used by state transportation workers building a new causeway next year, Smith said.

"If it doesn't work out, it may come to pass that in October we'll end up staying in Station Square Park on Saturday," Fernandez said.

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