City Market renaissance advances

Plans for the renaissance of the Niagara Falls City Market are progressing with construction to begin next year.

The next elements will be retention of an architect and construction company with work to begin next year, according to Market Manager Joanna Congi who said Friday her job has been a learning curve.

Congi works for Field & Fork Network and has tried to pick up where Tom Lowe left off when he departed for the American Heart Association.

It’s not easy when people say things like “get some new vendors” to make it happen.

For example, while long-time vendors like Senek, Hurtgam and Miller know what to expect, a vendor maintaining a small shop selling soup mixes in Somerset has listened to Shredd and Ragan for years and is scared by the way the Niagara Gazette has allowed the city to be portrayed as a dangerous place.

That same vendor also has to overcome the hesitancy of people to try products in a new place. Some products fly. For example, on Friday, which tends to be the busiest, there were about 12 vendors and the most recent addition, selling baked goods, was gone by 12:30 p.m. because she had no product left.

A new vendor, Janet Gillis of Youngstown was selling paintings and Halloween crafts. She ended up with a craft surplus after buying 15 kits for a LewPort Community Education Class and having 3 people show up. Hanna Mushrooms from North Tonawanda tried it out earlier this season.

Meanwhile, DoubleUp for a Buck, the program that allows SNAP recipients to use their benefit to receive twice the value when purchasing fruits and vegetables.

The market will remain in place during construction next year with a new pavilion likely to come first and featuring some sort of closure. The project is being funded with a $19 million grant from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Next Wednesday is a local food day with food trucks and additional vendors. Food trucks can be challenging because margins are thin so they can require a minimum before accepting a gig. It is not worth taking a gig unless you can be close to guaranteed it will be profitable.

Hence sometimes vendors who promise to show don’t.

For now, the market moves forward with brighter days on the horizon.