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Saturday market is expanding

The weekly open-air downtown market will expand into a nearby parking lot, allowing for about 30 or more vendors.

By JON WILSON
Published October 16, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Downtown's Saturday Morning Market is expanding into a parking lot next to its Central Avenue base, creating room for another 30 to 40 vendors, organizers say.

The market will take up about half the lot, which lies on the north side of Central between First and Second Streets.

Plans call for the expansion to take place in November, said Gail Eggeman, one of the organizers.

Earlier this year, the steering group contemplated extending the operation about a half-block west on Central, crossing busy Second Street.

City decision-makers, while saying they like what the market brings to downtown, turned down the go-west idea. They said said it would have created problems from a safety, risk management and traffic-flow standpoint.

"It interrupts too many other things. It was too big a thing for them to do," said Sgt. Charlie Burnette, special events coordinator for the Police Department.

Whatever the direction it stretches, the market appears on track to keep drawing both vendors and customers.

The market, which offers food, crafts, plants, jewelry, produce and baked goods, operates from a pool of about 160 vendors. They switch in and out from Saturday to Saturday to bring balance and a fresh look.

A recent Saturday of marginal weather wasn't enough to discourage patrons.

"Even with the rain, people shopped," Eggeman said.

The market is open from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., an hour longer than in the past. Its season will last through spring.

[Last modified October 16, 2005, 01:32:18]