Move To Temporary Building at Eastern Market Delayed
Construction of the temporary building at Eastern Market has begun, though somewhat behind schedule. The Examiner reports that the estimated opening date of the temporary building that will house the South Market vendors has been pushed back to mid-August, even though Mayor Fenty promised the vendors they'd have a new home by the end of July. According to the article, delays in construction have been caused by delays in manufacturing of the steel for the building. The Mayor had hoped to have the building up by July 15, but workers just started installing the frame on Monday. At last night's Eastern Market Advisory Committee Meeting, D.C.'s Office of Property Management told vendors that the move in date had been pushed back even farther: to August 25.
Reportedly workers now have all the parts for the building, and so construction of the structure itself should proceed fairly quickly. Internal infrastructure may be a different story, however. "We might have to wait a little while for things like our counters and coolers," Mike Bowers of Bowers Fancy Dairy Products told DCist. "Once we get all of our stuff in, we'll have to wait for inspections and everything."
It is the city's intention to put all 13 market vendors and the Market Lunch café from the South Hall into the temporary market, which has been termed the "East Hall." The construction team was scheduled to start placing the air conditioning system—a new, and welcome, addition from the South Hall—today.
Photo of temporary building construction by ShannonC from saveeasternmarket.org
We hope the move of the South Hall vendors to the temporary market will bring some sense of normalcy back to Eastern Market. Since the April 30 fire, business has been very slow for the arts and crafts vendors, the vendors of Saturday and Sunday's farmers line, and for those inside vendors who have set up stands outside Tuesday through Sunday. Funds for the market and support of its vendors continue to come from both community and governmental sources; the Capitol Hill Community Foundation has raised $385,000 as of July 17, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has included a $131,000 earmark for the Market in the FY 2008 Financial Services and General Government Operations appropriations bill (HR 2829). Please note that those funds weren't included in the Senate version, so the funding's fate will be decided in the upcoming conference negotiations.
The Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet with the Market vendors at 3:30 p.m. today for further discussion on the temporary building, vendor rents, and to discuss any concerns the vendors may raise.