Montpelier’s Capital City Farmers Market has relocated five times since 2019. A flood recovery project in the upper parking lot at 133 State Street may have it on the move again.
In November, market manager Keri Ryan confirmed with the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services that the 45-year-old market could return to the lower lot at that address, where it moved in September 2020. The market’s membership then voted to continue in that location for the 2024 summer season, which runs Saturdays from May through October, Ryan said.
On Monday, February 26, Ryan received an email from BGS saying the department would “need to offer [the market] an alternative location for this summer” due to flood recovery work at the Vermont Department of Taxes building.
Calls and emails in support of the market prompted hearings on the situation in the Senate Committee on Agriculture last week. BGS Deputy Commissioner David DiBiase offered several other options for the market on Thursday; on Friday, market representatives presented testimony.
Last year’s emergency post-flood location, the green at Vermont College of Fine Arts, wasn’t optimal for parking, loading, accessibility or drawing tourists, Ryan told Seven Days. The market’s previous home at 2 Taylor Street, which BGS initially recommended in its email, was “the worst location the market has ever had,” Ryan said.
“We understand that none of us expected a flood,” she continued. “But there’s no reason that the market cannot — and should not — be considered when making plans for [133 State Street].”
In the committee meeting last Friday, DiBiase said the department is “in a tough position with what we have going on here in the complex. The recovery effort is going to be a long-duration event,” which may include yet-to-be-scheduled work this summer, when the legislature is out of session.
Many of the market’s vendors themselves weathered damage from the floods, market board president Hannah Blackmer of Field Stone Farm in Northfield testified, and “they rely on a stable, safe and vibrant marketplace for their income.”
The nonprofit market does not pay to use the lot. Ryan estimated that market vendors do $1.2 million in business over roughly 100 operating hours each summer. Market data indicate that 98 percent of customers shop at other Montpelier businesses after attending the market.
Ryan said she and BGS representatives plan on a follow-up conversation this week to resolve the issue. Market leadership will work around construction-related interruptions as needed, she said: “We expect to return to 133 State Street this summer.”
This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2024.
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