Volunteers prepare for Ypsi PRIDE Day
May. 13, 2010 · 7:09 a.m.
Each year, residents in and around the city of Ypsilanti carry on a tradition started by a group of community members enrolled in a city leadership program, a sort...read more
Bicycles zoom as flowers bloom
Apr. 30, 2010 · 2:11 p.m.
The weather has turned, the trees are budding and the flowers are popping out of the ground; time for a cruise through town. But don’t be so quick to hop in the...read more
Sheriff Clayton visits Ypsilanti Township
Apr. 29, 2010 · 12:59 p.m.
About 50 Ypsilanti Township residents gave the Washtenaw County Sheriff Office their input about law enforcement in the community Tuesday evening.
The information...read more
Local photographer raising funds for Ypsi Project exhibit
Apr. 20, 2010 · 2:20 a.m.
Ypsilanti has many faces, and Erica Hampton wants to share a few of them with you.
Over the past year, Hampton created the The Ypsi Project, a series of portraits...read more
Savoy taking shape as live music venue
Apr. 17, 2010 · 2:38 p.m.
Ypsilanti's newest concert venue is preparing for its grand opening weekend April 23, more than a month after its soft opening March 13.
Formerly Club Divine,...read more
Photo by Citizen file
Growing Hope volunteer Stefanie Stauffer staffs the organization's booth at the Downtown Farmers' Market when the event kicked off it's fourth season in May 2009.
Current host needs space, event to move after four successful years
Apr. 8, 2010 · 3:51 a.m.
Growing Hope is looking for a new location to hold the Downtown Farmers' Market next month, as the event's current home may no longer be available.
Amanda Edmonds, executive director of the Ypsilanti-area non-profit, said the parking lot of the Key Bank building, where the Downtown Farmers' Market has been held since its first season in 2006, is filling as the building gets more tenants with more employees.
“There's a lot more people downtown,” Edmonds said of the increased activity at the Key bank building. “That's a good thing.
“We don't want people to suddenly go away from downtown, so we don't really want the problem to go away,” she said.
Edmonds said Key Bank has not told them to leave the space, but with more people working in the building there will be less space available to host the market.
“We haven't been totally kicked out of the space,” she said. “[The parking situation] just doesn't guarantee us a spot for the market.”
Growing Hope didn't want to look far for a new location for the Downtown Farmers' Market as the event has continually expanded every year in its current location, with increased attendance and spending for four years. Edmonds said moving the event to another area downtown could prove to be a step backward and cause a drop in the market's continual success.
“We feel pretty strongly about the location,” Edmonds said. “It takes people time to get used to a new place.”
Last year, more than 15,000 people came out the Downtown Farmers' Market throughout the season and spent a total of $108,327. This averages to $7.07 spent per visit. In 2008, nearly 13,000 people came out and spent a total of $64,905. The average in 2008 was $5.11 spent per visit.
While attendance grew 21 percent from 2008 to 2009, sales increased by 67 percent. There has been an increase in both numbers every year since 2006, when the market began.
Attendance and sales figures are according to Growing Hope's 2009 Downtown Ypsilanti Farmers' Market Season Report.
“We are working through a couple different scenarios,” Edmonds said of where the group intends to move the market.
Edmonds said Growing Hope is looking at closing Ferris Street just south of the Key Bank parking lot, between Hamilton and Adams, and across the street in the U.S. Post Office's parking lot.
Ypsilanti City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting a move for the market at its meeting Tuesday, which Edmonds said got the ball rolling quicker than Growing Hope had anticipated. She said the word got out so quickly about the situation she had to schedule a meeting with representatives at the post office Wednesday, before they heard about the idea from someone else.
The group had planned to work through U.S. Representative John Dingell, D-Mich., to open discussions with the U.S. Post Office, Edmonds said. However, the step had to be skipped to make sure officials at the Post Office heard the plan from members of Growing Hope and not from news outlets or other sources.
She said paperwork will be filed soon to request to have the street closure, which will be done through the usual special events permit process and would require a fee from the organization.
Edmonds said the Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority may take up a resolution similar to the one passed by City Council.
“I'm actually really pleased and surprised there hasn't really been any resistance,” she said. “It feels good.”
Initially, the two plans to use Ferris Street or the Post Office's parking lot were developed to cover the bases in case one fell through. However, Edmonds said both could be utilized simultaneously as vendor parking is often limited and an overflow for market area would be useful as the event expands.
“We're moving forward,” Edmonds said. “We'll see what comes of it.”
Growing Hope will be throwing a kick-off event for the Downtown Farmers Market from 2 – 5 p.m. April 20 at the Senior Center on Congress Street. The regular market begins May 4 and operates from 2 – 6 p.m. every Tuesday.
On the Web:
Downtown Ypsilanti Farmers' Market
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