Location, utility prices, pandemic possible forcing Edmonton Downtown Farmers Market to shut – Edmonton

The Edmonton Downtown Farmers Market will possible should fold and declare chapter.

The market’s supervisor stated the final market day might be Jan. 28.

The board of administrators for the market affiliation has known as a particular assembly for all members on Jan. 27 “to think about the quick future and to think about the board’s advice to stop working, to vacate the constructing and file for chapter,” Elaine Doucette informed International Information on Friday.

“We’ve been on this present location for over 4 years. The transfer that we did from 104th Avenue to this constructing coincided with the worldwide (COVID-19) pandemic. We had … east downtown restoration points.

“We didn’t actually get the vibrancy on this location that we would have liked.”

When the market moved from 104th Avenue to the historic Military & Navy constructing at 103rd Avenue and  97th Avenue in 2020, it had 250 distributors, Doucette stated. Now it has simply 60.

“We noticed an enormous — large — loss in our vendor base, which is our technique of revenue, and it continues to shrink to the purpose the place we can not maintain this location,” she stated.

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Edmonton Downtown Farmers Market inches nearer to shifting date

The market is open year-round Saturdays and Sundays.

“This present constructing may be very excessive in utilities so it’s actually hit us. We simply haven’t made it again from that earlier transfer and break with the pandemic,” Doucette stated.

The market took a CEBA mortgage however paid it again. Now, it’s simply having bother with different debt — particularly the infrastructure charges and utilities.

The market’s lease ends in April 2024, Doucette stated. The owner is town, which is leasing it from a personal company. The market board of administrators has been working with each.

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Edmonton’s downtown market shifting again to 104 Avenue

In June 2023, the market’s board stated it may now not afford the working prices of the outdated Military & Navy constructing and must transfer.

“They’ve exhausted all choices,” Doucette stated. “They’ve been engaged on it for years. There may be potential for extra loans, however as a non-profit, to take out much more debt at this level can be in opposition to bylaw until we voted it out, so we’re simply going to fold.”

The board is hopeful another person may discover a option to preserve the downtown market custom going.

“We’re wanting ahead to probably one other entity taking up,” Doucette stated. “As this entity, we obtained too far within the gap with the unsustainable selection of shifting to this location, the constructing, the pandemic.

“The situation, the price of this outdated constructing and the worldwide pandemic simply actually crushed us.”

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