Feature
New food and features reshape City Market 10.11.11
INDIANAPOLIS STAR
The transformation of City Market is nearing completion.
With a bicycle hub, YMCA and bike store churning in the east wing, workers began work on the west wing over the weekend.
City Market interim Executive Director Stevi Stoesz said the handful of businesses in the wing already have started to relocate and the Indy Winter Farmers Market is scheduled to move to the first floor in November.
"By January, we hope that will be 100 percent leased out," Stoesz said.
Moving to the center building will be Asian and Middle Eastern restaurants and a convenience store. Negotiations are still under way with a restaurant that features Philly cheese steaks. A vitamin store has decided to leave the market, leaving that space vacant.
A barbershop on the second floor will relocate to the main hall in January. Taking its place will be the Local Initiative Support Corp., a nonprofit that helps revitalize neighborhoods.
The Saturday winter market will enter its fourth year but has lacked a permanent home. Last year, 60 vendors operated out of the Maxwell apartment building on Ohio Street Downtown.
"We are very excited about this opportunity," said Winter Market owner Laura Henderson. "This is what City Market was built to do."
In fact, some of City Market's newest and most popular tenants were once part of the winter market.
They include Natural Born Juicers, Circle City Soups and Three Days in Paris.
The winter market draws about 1,200 customers each Saturday from November through April. The vendors include six to eight vegetable stands, creameries, bakeries and fresh fruit peddlers.
The market will even include a food truck -- Duos -- minus the truck.
"All we need is empty space," Henderson said. "Our vendors bring their own tables."
Henderson said the winter market will accept food stamps for the first time.
"Because so many bus lines are centered there, we think it makes a lot of sense," she said.
City Market also will continue its own winter markets inside on Wednesday. Those vendors likely will be on the second floor.
The original City Market plan was to raze the west wing and make it part of the outdoor amphitheater and seating space, but city officials decided the $800,000 cost was too much.
City Market's $3.5 million face lift includes new bathrooms, the east wing renovation and the reshuffling of vendors in the main building to make way for new retailers.
Mayor Greg Ballard said the market is finally coming together after years of uncertainty.
"The changes you see happening at the City Market are transforming this historic Indianapolis landmark to a thriving hub of activity where people want to visit to work out, have lunch, shop and more," Ballard said. "They are completely revitalizing the facility to offer a variety of options for residents and visitors alike."
Scheduled to open soon are a Cajun restaurant and a New York style pizzeria. A bar serving Indiana beers opened on the second floor last year.
During the week, the west wing can be used for community meetings and other events.
Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6303.
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