Communities have their say on Public Market site

After a decade long of talking and planning, the plan to build a year-round, locally-stocked, indoor Madison Public Market is moving forward. The next question is where the market will be located, which the city is starting to answer in series of community conversations.

About 15 people, a mix of nearby residents, kitchen facility providers and vendors attended the meeting held at St. Paul Lutheran Church on the north side Thursday night, one of the four meetings held around the city.  The night’s discussion was around three questions: What features and activities would be essential for people to go to the public market? What would it take for a district to best serve the whole Madison community? Where would the potential sites be?

Accessibility, diversity, and affordability were buzzwords flying around the room during the meeting. Attendees agreed that a successful site should be close to a large pool of population, boast good transportation links for customers and vendors and provide a variety of foods in price and quality. Some participants suggested a comprehensive public market could include the concepts of entertainment and services.

The meeting was held on the North Side, and many attendees favored locating the site in their neighborhood. The area around Warner Park was put forth due to its potential to be a multiple destination and community gathering place. But sites in the south, such as Alliant Energy Center and the former Thorstad Automotive location, were also considered.

“I think the north side is still a secret, a bit underserved,” said Dave Meyer, a nearby resident. “We have a population that is very diverse, desiring some energy and some changes. There’s been a lot of changes on the west side, downtown and on the south side. I think we are ready for some changes.”

The plan has been on and off the city’s agenda since 2003. In the past decade, the city had conducted several plans and studies but none of them really took hold because of a divergence of visions. About two years ago, the city restarted taking a fresh look at the idea and sought consultant to develop a business plan. It hired Project for Public Spaces, Inc. (PPS), a New York-based non-profit consulting organization

In April, PPS presented the results of its community research, finding a strong interest in a locally supported food market to complement the existing food options. This marked the end of the first phase of the project.

“That’s an opportunity to add to our event space, our cultural space,” said Anne Reynolds, the Chair of Madison Local Food Committee, in an interview with WKOW 27.

But is there such a perfect location for the public market? Some compromise might be inevitable. PPS’s report revealed some inherent tensions between uses for a market, for example the competition between large-scale wholesaling and small-scale production.  

In response to the questions, Dan Kennelly, the economic development specialist for the city of Madison, said the city is open to all ideas in terms of where the public market should be located at this stage. The location and design of the market need to be carefully considered so that the uses can be co-located.

It is hard to predict the timeline, especially when it involves the city negotiating, said Kennelly. He said the city would choose a site based on community input, technical market analysis of sites and real estate availability. Once a final location is identified, the process will move into the third phase which includes conceptual architecture, financing plan, and operating structure.

“We still have a lot of homework to do,” Kennelly said.