Finish Cottonwood site and move the downtown market: EcoSociety director
By Timothy Schafer
The city needs to step up and finish the Cottonwood market site and re-locate the weekly downtown market, says the West Kootenay EcoSociety’s executive director.
Montana Burgess petitioned city council recently with a three-fold request from the 25-year-old environmental society to advance the Cottonwood market re-development project to completion, as well as moving the Wednesday downtown market to a new location from its current Hall Street locale, and to form a partnership with the city on the markets.
The Cottonwood project has been inching ahead with little progress since the city first demolished the old buildings on site three years ago, Burgess explained.
“It’s been a few years now and we haven’t had a great space,” she said. “It’s felt a little bit like a dust bowl kind of vibe for the last few years.
“This could be the year to make that park beautiful again.”
The vendors also need water and electricity in the oval area, Burgess pointed out, and there needs to be a stage for performers while overall safety needs to be addressed at the site.
The West Kootenay EcoSociety has been running markets in Nelson for over 20 years, operating the Saturday community market and the Wednesday downtown local market from May to October each year.
The society also operates GardenFest on Mother’s Day weekend, MarketFest the last Friday night in July and August, a Winter Craft Fair in December and will be starting a Harvest Festival in October this year.
More than 35,000 residents and tourists visit the markets each year, noted Burgess. In past years, gross annual sales of all market vendors from all EcoSociety’s markets have reached almost $940,000, which means other local Nelson businesses are making an additional almost $500,000 because of the EcoSociety markets, she said.
But Cottonwood market site needs to be completed this year so it can “be a vibrant space that is safe, effective and fun for families, seniors, tourists, artists, performers and vendors,” said Burgess.
She said the Wednesday market needs to extend down Baker Street from the Hall Street Plaza, up to the Josephine Street intersection “to ensure a safe, visible, pedestrian- friendly, lively and vibrant” downtown weekly market.
“This would enable more vendors to take part in the market, remove the danger of an open intersection going right through the centre of the market, and open up the Hall Street alley for commercial deliveries and pick-ups between Baker Street and Vernon Street,” she added.
The current market location along Hall Street suffers from low visibility, decreased vendor revenue (down about 25 per cent last year) and a less cohesive cultural experience, said Burgess.
She said the spot where Baker Street splits the market makes for a dangerous intersection for the market goers, and it chops up the market into several sections.
“It feels like people are more squeezed in around a very busy intersection,” she said.
With the many community-building markets the society hosts it is time the city partnered with the EcoSociety to operate the Nelson markets by waiving fees associated with licenses to occupy the spaces for the downtown and Cottonwood markets, Burgess explained.
She hoped to meet with city staff and council to discuss plans to move forward on the three points.
Coun. Jesse Woodward, and former market manager, said the points made in favour of the market were valid.
“From an economic point of view it is a very important piece to keep strong and vital,” he said. “It should be supported.”
A motion was made to refer the matter back to city staff, particularly the three points made by Burgess, for review and to present to council for a discussion. The motion passed.
