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