Work will begin later this month on a new main building for the St. Jacobs Farmers Market, in the hopes the whole project will be complete by next spring.
Mercedes Corp., which owns the market, announced Wednesday that site work will commence before the end of June on a replacement for its original building, which burned down last fall.
Sixty vendors were displaced by the fire – the cause of which was never officially determined – but have since found homes either in other market buildings, in a temporary new main building or in the market’s outdoor area.
The new building will encompass 34,000 square feet – or about 40 per cent more space than the original. It will feature wider aisles, more seating and room for additional vendors.
In a press release, Mercedes Corp. said the new building will be designed to evoke the original structure, with heavy wooden beems.
The current temporary building will also remain part of the market, and likely be offered seasonally to vendors who currently set up outdoors.
“Every day, we continue to feel strong support as we work to renew the Farmers’ Market,” Mercedes Corp. president Marcus Shantz said in the release.
The market will remain open through the construction period, Mercedes Corp. said, and more parking will be added to the site as part of the renovations.
