Is there a Market for this?

This look at a (the) market down there is the first of two at what's going on in Railtown: now that its overall plans for plans have solidified into which possible option may eventually be of interest to developers. Usually for the same limited spaces/buildings - with "could" pretty much as far as it goes.
So, relax: nothing is happening/will happen for some time - if at all.

Except for a sort-of-market at one end maybe.

And The Chamber Theme Park at the other, with the Chamber of Commerce now the only one proactively running any Railtown-by-design activities: focused on itself with never flagging energy and limitless funds.

I am getting ahead of myself.

Market: Now
Out of necessity I start going downhill to the tent-setup when the Baker Market finishes for the year. The Baker Market - with colorful, energetic bustle right downtown: the only farmers' market making sense in Nelson. And there being absolutely no valid reason for not starting it earlier and not continuing until Mid-November.
I have heard from vendor/shopper-friends - and find out when I start going - downhill has little to recommend it now: fewer vendors and some packing it in earlier this year, fewer shoppers, paths muddy and the toilet a breathtaking disgrace. A few truckloads of cedar-chips and even just a modicum of attention to the toilet-facilities would have meant a great improvement for the indeterminate duration - but basic maintenance is not sexy!
Altogether the mood is rather subdued, and if it weren't for the Baker Market closing down some weeks ago.....! The buildings of yesteryear may have been in poor shape - but they anchored the market, gave it traditional purpose. Missing now!

  













Market: To Be
According to the Star, Oct. 23, 2016, City Manager Kevin Cormack said the city got a grant (what grant and how much?) to do the move, and has worked extensively with the EcoSociety (which runs the market) on the plan for the move. Move into what - and who at the EcoSociety, seeing that David Reid - main ego behind the project - quit as its director some time ago?
"This is more than a market, it is a park amenity," he said (Even to Cormack this is not about a farmers' market any longer - but what pray tell is a park amenity? Whatever it is - it will be larger than the park!), emphasizing that the new structures would be used for more than just the market (like what exactly?), and he said the plan is too far along to slow it down now. While this could be a way of keeping questions from the uninitiated - like Council and the public - to a minimum - it could also mean that the profit-pie has already been divided, with pieces (very) quietly handed to those found most deserving.

True: Neither Cormack nor the EcoSociety has kept the public informed of what is/will be going on down there. Their game clearly is not ours! But also true: The situation is whatever it may be largely because Council - while having had at least 4 major opportunities to slow down or stop the game altogether - has failed to do so by not raising the questions above and below.

This post will attempt to acquaint/reacquaint Council and the great unwashed with speed-bumps along the way.

   












1. Missed Opportunity
When a reincarnation of the Cottonwood Market first comes before Council - they without hesitation hand 12.600 taxpayer-bucks to the EcoSociety for a pre-plan plan. Few questions asked, no detailed explanations demanded. Even though the EcoSociety - a volunteer-run organization of treehuggers - aside from keeping the then-market on automatic - has no qualifications for creating such project from scratch. But - big but! - there is its name: 1 of our 2 sacred cows: Co-op and EcoSociety.

David Reid - still director then - takes on raising a few hundred-thousand. On his own! Handled!
Eventually the Cover Architecture Collaborative through Reid - unprompted by Council - comes up with a basic wish-list of points to possibly be included in a grand design. This list for our 12.600.

The buck should stop right here - with Council: establishing parameters for the project's function, rules for accountability within the gestation-process - overall control! Instead it very unimaginatively throws more and more bucks at the thing. And here it is/we are: nowhere!

    










2. Missed Opportunity
With no outside funding in sight after all - Reid asks Council for and promptly gets additional 30.000 taxpayer-bucks.
He later lists Kalesnikoff Lumber among several possible - not declared though! - contributors. Interesting here from an eco-treehugging angle: Kalesnikoff at the time is very unpopular in Glade, because their planned logging in a particular area there may threaten a watershed. One would think this to be right up the EcoSociety's raison d'etre - but apparently it isn't. Moneyhuggers!

More funding-goodies: Cormack introduces an anonymous "community business partner" who wants to "participate" in and "intends to contribute significantly to building the new structures." How (much) he wants to participate (in return) for his significant contribution is not divulged. This could get dodgy as Cormack clearly must have an in-depth relationship with his outside-business-partner in City Hall affairs.
Connecting rather large dots through the relevant Star write-up: Councillor Robin Cherbo asked if the new structures could be made of wood. Cormack responded that could be an option and that the unnamed business that has stepped forward "deals in wood."
No bells, no red flag, no nothing from Council!

Currently word on the street has it that the market-project is stalled due to a lack of sufficient funding.

   

3. Missed Opportunity
Cover Architecture comes up with a market-design totally lacking rudimentary weather-scenarios. Roofs of individual units afford little shelter from sun, wind and rain for vendors, shoppers, produce, merchandise. Also - their shape has rainwater run to the lowest point in their lengthways center-fold. Meaning: water will gush down unhindered from that fold, probably from both ends of unconnected units. This in turn meaning: anyone walking from unit to unit in the rain will have to dodge 2 waterfalls per unit multiplied by the number of units walked under. For shelter.
(See renderings here)
How up to 600 envisioned concert/festival-revellers are to be sheltered in-case (there won't be seating for anyone either) is not addressed.

Council and Staff - made aware of basic design-shortfalls - seemingly have taken no position. In fact -

4. Missed Opportunity
- after/with all this Council hands another 40.000 bucks to heaven knows who's in charge: an obscene almost third of Nelson's Columbia Basin Trust allotment for the whole year. 

Marketing
So that's where we are now with this market-or-what: not knowing who's in charge; not knowing about necessary radical design-changes; not knowing when; not knowing about the facility's purpose - not knowing the how expensive eventually to taxpayers point of all this!

slcfarmersmarket.org
nelsonstar.com
splashdreamstime.com