Permanent farmers market location in the works downtown

Organic farmer Colleen Meredith, informs an interested customer about her produce and other handmade goods.
Organic farmer Colleen Meredith, informs an interested customer about her produce and other handmade goods.

Plans to establish a permanent structure for the Capital City Farmers Market is underway.

The vision started when Ryan Freeman, who owns the Blattner building at 704 Madison St., decided to branch outside of typical business opportunities to use the building in a way that would help the community.

"Knowing that healthy grocery options are limited in this area, what better use for this building - providing a market for the south side of town, " Freeman said. "This is something our community doesn't have."

He said the building has been vacant for at least eight years, has 20,000 square feet of space and would be perfect for vendors looking to maintain a permanent space in the Old Munichburg neighborhood on the south side of town.

Freeman envisions turning the building into an industrial warehouse space, where ideally the Capital City Farmers Market would be on the 10,000-square-foot first level of the building. The second floor could be turned into a batting cage warehouse.

At the very least, Freeman plans to revamp the front of the building, potentially install garage doors, rip up the existing carpet, put a fresh coat of paint on the walls, update the existing bathrooms and install a new HVAC system.

Hard costs are not yet finalized, but renovations could cost $125,000-$150,000. With those estimates, the market could be looking at $1,500 a month to rent the space, he said.

Steve Smart, a representative from the Capital City Farmers Market, and Ashley Varner, healthy schools healthy communities coordinator at Capital Region Medical Center, have teamed up with Freeman to make the vision a dream come true for fresh food vendors in the Jefferson City area, with hopes of opening a year-round farmers market.

A permanent home could allow the market to operate more than two days a week with longer hours.

Freeman noted this would be a prime location for a permanent market, with the Salvation Army and a transit stop nearby and with the Community Health Center moving to Christy Drive, just a little more than a mile away.

"There is a food desert in this town roughly from Ellis Boulevard, encompassed by Southwest Boulevard on the west end of town, and Clark Avenue on the east end," Smart said. "It's easy to move to Columbia or Kansas City, but it's time to take a stand and try to make a difference right here in the community."

The Capital City Farmers Market, formerly known as the downtown farmers market, will host vendors who sell a variety of produce including fruits and vegetables.

In addition to traditional payment methods, the market would have Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) capabilities, providing access to low-income families who want to purchase fresh food.

EBT cardholders would be eligible to participate in the Double-Up Bucks Program, a match program that turns $10 of food stamp benefits into $20 to be spent in the market.

For the market to be sustainable, Smart and Varner said, patrons and vendors need to know the market will not change locations every time they want to purchase fresh foods.

"Even moving a block up the street can throw things off balance for some folks because they don't want to go looking for the market," Smart said. "Having a permanent home definitely makes a difference."

He added several vendors have left the market due to this issue as well as not having enough traffic on the market's business days.

Varner emphasized this as an opportunity for other community partners to come together on this initiative.

The team is seeking a corporate sponsor to help sustain the market, in addition to funds from CRMC's Missouri Foundation for Health grant, which will support the market for up to four weeks.

She envisions forming partnerships with local farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs and bringing in other farm-to-table initiatives.

Until the financial projections are more concrete, Freeman said, he is unsure of a timeline but hopes to know whether the plan to install the permanent market will move forward by mid-July.