The next step for the Athens Farmers Market is having city council create an exploratory committee to assess the suggested location.
The Athens Farmers Market is looking to move to a location it attempted to move to 10 years ago: the Athens Community Center.
Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said 10 years ago drawings were done for the space, however, due to cost and other factors, the project fell through.
“It kind of fell apart there because there was too many moving parts at that time,” Wiehl said.
The community center is now being considered again as one of 14 locations suggested by the Athens Farmers Market task force, a partnership between the Athens Foundation and the farmers market.
Laura Black, a volunteer at the Athens Foundation and Ohio University associate professor in the School of Communication Studies, helped the task force complete its plan of identifying the best new location.
“My expertise is helping them solve problems and come to decisions,” Black said.
Councilman Steve Patterson, D-At Large, is a patron of the Athens Farmers Market and is helping in the selection of the new location.
“At this point, (Athens City Council will) probably end up drafting a resolution,” Patterson said.
The resolution will state that Athens City Council will begin looking at the feasibility of the location and creating an assessment team, he said.
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“We’ll identify who the different entities are that will be a part of the exploratory assessment team,” Patterson said.
The Athens Farmers Market is a source of pride for Patterson and others in town.
“In a lot ways, it’s a selling point for people moving here for employment reasons,” Patterson said.
Patterson, a psychology professor at OU, said whenever he’s a member of search teams aiming to locate new psychology professors, he touts the farmers market as a reason to move to Athens.
“We have a nationally-recognized farmers market," he said. "It’s one of the best quality of life features in Athens.”
The proposed location would displace a dog park, but the Arts, Parks, and Recreation Director Rich Campitelli is already aware of the possibility of the move, Wiehl said.
“(It's) a little large for a dog park,” Wiehl said. “We can probably better utilize that space.”
The Athens Community Center has the easiest access for pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular traffic, Black said.
“I shop there every week," Black said. "I get most of my produce there and a lot of baked goods (and) meats."
Black said she feels it is important to invest in the Athens local food economy.
“That’s money I’m not giving to Wal-Mart or even Kroger," she said. "It’s money I’m just giving to the farmer who grew the food.”
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