09-14-2018, 10:23 PM
I would hesitate to use the word 'broken', yes. There was hope that the new market would give a renewal boost to the area, and it saw some success; not as much as anticipated, but I would not call it a failure.
A major factor in this was how much of the project was general conception and how that was not made greatly practical before becoming a reality. The city had a general idea of how to execute the market, assembled the necessary land, came up with guidelines for its construction... and tendered it as a design-build. This led to a market building with a number of unfortunate flaws that could have been avoided with public consultation throughout the design process, and scuppered any plans for a midweek market to catch on.
That said, the area has seen some good incremental improvements; businesses like Golden Hearth and the Yeti have opened in direct proximity, and the LRT launch should give the area something of a second chance.
A major factor in this was how much of the project was general conception and how that was not made greatly practical before becoming a reality. The city had a general idea of how to execute the market, assembled the necessary land, came up with guidelines for its construction... and tendered it as a design-build. This led to a market building with a number of unfortunate flaws that could have been avoided with public consultation throughout the design process, and scuppered any plans for a midweek market to catch on.
That said, the area has seen some good incremental improvements; businesses like Golden Hearth and the Yeti have opened in direct proximity, and the LRT launch should give the area something of a second chance.