Explore market options

It seems everyone wants a piece of the Iowa City Farmers Market, which has grown exponentially in the past five years or so.

Several thousand customers peruse nearly 150 vendor stalls on Saturdays. There's a wait list of more than 60 others who'd like to sell at this year's market, which opens in a couple of months.

But there's little room to expand at the market's current site - the Chauncey Swan parking ramp just east of downtown.

Downtown business owners want the market moved closer to the heart of downtown next year. They hope to bring a proposal to city council members this fall.

But that's still a sore spot after a 2009 dust-up when staff tried to implement Downtown Market Days without input from vendors or customers. From what I can tell, the lines in the sand haven't changed much since then.

Most vendors and residents like the market just where it is. The location is handy, they say, parking is easy and the roof protects buyers and sellers from the sun and rain.

It is a parking ramp, after all, with all the mustiness and fumes that go along with its primary purpose. As one respondent to a 2009 public survey about the market called it: “Convenient but dreary.” “It's not gorgeous, but it's very functional,” vendor Martha Boysen agreed when we talked on Tuesday.

Enter the DTA. Executive Director Nick Arnold told me a downtown market would take care of the “dreary” part: “We have a beautiful downtown streetscape, the sunshine and downtown Iowa City,” he said. In return, the market could help “reintroduce” downtown to residents. He said he knows there are detractors, he just hopes people keep an open mind about the idea as plans develop.

But the DTA also should keep an open mind and listen to vendors and customers' concerns. To do that, they need to talk with folks on the ground. So far, the DTA has worked only through the city, hoping to sway folks to their side.

Boysen, who has been selling pet treats and concrete garden art at the market for years, is working with some other vendors on a counterproposal.

“I don't have anything against partnering with the DTA,” she said. “I think it could be really beneficial, but I would want it to be a partnership.”

The market already partners with several neighbors, she said, such as the University of Iowa Community Credit Union, New Pioneer Co-op and local food groups.

Clearly there are more than two options to explore.

Comments: (319) 339-3154; jennifer.hemmingsen@sourcemedia.net