Wilczewski, a vendor at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, was responding to a question about the latest plan to “reenvision” it. Indeed they have.
The sheds between Detroit St. and N. Fourth Ave. have barely changed since they were built more than ninety years ago. But how to use a vacant lot facing Fourth Ave. has been debated since the city demolished a house there decades ago. Now, an impending demolition has rekindled debate about the market’s future layout.
The impetus comes, ironically, from the market’s newest structure: the small office and bathroom building added in the 1980s. It closed in May and will be demolished early next year.
In the spring of 2023, market manager Stefanie Stauffer noticed what she describes as a “large gap between the sidewalk and the building.” An investigation “found the foundation had been completely eroded and was structurally unsound.” That means the city parks department, which manages the market, will once again be inviting the community and market vendors to share their wish lists—for the third time this century. The most recent plan would have built an enclosed, heated vending space on the vacant lot—still referred to by vendors as the “dirt lot,” though it’s long since been paved. It was intended to address perennial complaints from the vendors who sell year-round, but not all were disappointed when it was canceled due to rising construction costs: it would have been more useful to prepared-food vendors than to growers, most of whom need more space.
In the spring of 2023, market manager Stefanie Stauffer noticed what she describes as a “large gap between the sidewalk and the building.” An investigation “found the foundation had been completely eroded and was structurally unsound.” | Photo by Mark Bialek
Then there was a fallback plan: According to the market’s 2022 annual report, “In early 2020, market staff presented a proposal for roll-down sides to provide shelter from the elements and overhead heating for a small portion of the market.” However, “Due to pandemic-related increases in material costs and A2Zero energy-use constraints, it is unclear if the 2020 proposal is currently feasible.”
According to Stauffer, the loss of the restrooms has been the major complaint from vendors, who had to use the facilities in Kerrytown until a Throne portable restroom was installed. Even more inconvenienced, Stauffer and her staff are now working temporarily in an office in a converted shipping container. Fortunately, Stauffer smiles, they all like each other, and, except for market days, can usually work remotely.
The closing of the office and restrooms hasn’t hurt business, Stauffer says. Neither has competition from newer farm outlets here and in nearby towns, whom she calls “community partners.”
“People have asked me in the past, like, ‘Oh, do you guys compete with Argus Farm Stops?’” she says. “No, not at all. I think we support each other.” Vendors who don’t sell out at the market sometimes drop off part of their crop at the two Argus stores, she says—and vice versa.
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Asked what change he’d like to see, Wilczewski says, “It would be nice to have level ground. A lot of customers trip over the steps” between stalls. Vendors, too, are constantly stepping up onto the curb from their parked trucks, and he says several “fell this year and cracked their heads.” Though he doesn’t know if the curb was involved, Wilczewski says, the up-and-down “does wear on you.”
“It would be wonderful to be inside,” says Carol Brooks of Brookside Blueberry Farm, who also sells eggs, snow cones, and baked goods. “But it would be hard for me to carry things in.”
The consultation process won’t really get going until next year when the parks staffer in charge returns from paternity leave. Karlene Goetz of Goetz Greenhouse says she’d need to think about her full wish list, but one came to mind instantly:
“If they’re going to spend a lot of money, they need to make some area—it doesn’t have to be all of it—that can be heated,” she says. “If they don’t want to heat, they should make it so we can heat it.”
