SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The Downtown Farmers Market will return to a renovated Pioneer Park next summer, but plans for a permanent market building that could have brought winter shoppers to the park have fallen through.
The Downtown Alliance and Salt Lake City spent about a year and a half exploring whether to build a year-round market facility at the downtown park. The Alliance announced this week that the two sides could not find a construction and ownership arrangement that worked for both.
Dee Brewer, executive director of the Downtown Alliance, said the group determined that the cost outweighed the benefits of constructing the building. Ownership and the use of public green space were also part of the discussion.
WATCH | Pioneer Park farmer's market building plan falls through as renovation wraps up
“I don’t know that anybody walked away from it,” Brewer said. “We came to the decision in that working group that the mayor brought together that this isn’t the place or the time to do that.”
The proposed building was estimated to cost $20 million to $25 million and was separate from the roughly $18.4 million renovation of Pioneer Park, which is scheduled to reopen Nov. 13.
The park improvements include an all-abilities playground, six lighted pickleball courts, a basketball court, a dog park, a pavilion and a promenade. The city says the promenade can accommodate up to eight food trucks and has power available for vendors.
In a statement to FOX 13 News, Salt Lake City said the park was designed to be enjoyed throughout the year, including during colder months. The city said it can also host community gatherings and events in every season.
The farmers market itself is not ending. The summer market will return to Pioneer Park from June through October next year, said Carly Gillespie, director of Urban Food Connections of Utah and the Downtown Farmers Market.
The winter market will open Nov. 14 at the former Leonardo Museum, 209 E. 500 South. It will be the second year the winter market has operated there. Organizers moved it to the former museum last year after its previous location at The Gateway became unavailable. “Of course we would love a permanent home. We would love to operate year-round,” Gillespie said. “We’d love to operate 52 weeks out of the year.”
Brewer said the Leonardo offered an affordable way to continue the winter market, although it means winter shoppers will not be bringing crowds to Pioneer Park. “There was some hope that we could sort of extend that through the winter here,” he said. “That’s not going to work.”
Across the street from Pioneer Park, Laan Na Thai co-owner Wichai Charoen sees the benefit of the summer market firsthand. He said the crowds bring customers into his restaurant.“The farmers market makes people come here a lot, there's a lot of foot traffic,” Charoen said.
Charoen said he felt bad when he learned the winter market would be held somewhere else, but he said he was glad to hear it would return in the summer.
Gillespie said organizers are looking forward to seeing how people use the renovated park, both during the market and on other days.
“We’ve done an excellent job at activating the park on Saturdays, but it’s time for people to start using this park on other days of the week,” she said.