Local Food
- Welcome
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prepared by Corey Toews
WELCOME
In September 2003 the Exchange District BIZ partnering with the Winnipeg Folk Music Fest organized and offered Winnipegers a change to experience a downtown farmers' market through their Market Revival Program. The Market Revival and Arts Festival ran for three consecturive Saturdays (September 13th, 20th, 27th). The market was intended to showcase local artisands, provide support for local agricultural producers, and to outline some of the positive initiatives being undertaken in the Exchange such as residential loft conversion. The City of Winnipeg was very supportive of the program offering the Exchange BIZ a festival grant to aid in the delivery of the Market Revival initiative.
Over the years a farmers' market prospered until the mid 1980s, but under mounting pressures of city expansion and political will the market atmosphere was lost in downtown Winnipeg, and although attempts were made to revive the functional use of Market Square in subsequent years little remained of the original use of the square into the 1990’s. That was until this past summer when a Market Revival Program was introduced through the Exchange Distrct Business Improvement Zone and the Winnipeg Folk Festival. The program brought a farmers’ market into the square running three consecutive Saturdays in September. The program made use of the legacy in Market Square which included the Market Stage and vending tents.
The city, through local initiatives driven by the Exchange Business Improvement Zone (BIZ), and Winnipeg Folk Fest are attempting to bring back the downtown market that existed in Old Market Square over much of the city’s history. The remainder of this paper will examine what other cities have done in reviving their public markets and the potential that exists in Winnipeg for a sustainable market within the downtown core.
The response was positive and the push now is towards expanding the program for summer 2004. This case considers the history of Winnipeg’s public market tradition and offers ideas as to the future potential of a public market in the heart of Winnipeg, Old Market Square, which would be functionally linked to The Forks anchoring downtown Winnipeg with two high value public spaces. (see Toews 2003).
The revival of Market Square’s past glory can serve as an impetus for the transformation of the Exchange District to a vital live work entertainment district. The underlying objectives of the proposed public market development in Old Market Square are threefold and include improving the pedestrian continuity between The Forks National Historic Site and Old Market Square and equalizing the tourist concentration throughout downtown; developing a permanent public market in Old Market Square; and improving the sense of community and access to fresh goods in the downtown area. With much development already occurring within the city centre the time is now for expansion of public facilities within the Exchange District. Although development of a permanent market facility may go beyond the means of the current city budget, this case can help spark genuine debate over the possibility of reviving Market Square back to its original glory.
