Khristopher J Brooks

@AmericanGlow

The 111-year-old Rochester Public Market is finally getting its huge makeover.

The city has formally kicked off an $8 million renovation and expansion project that will take 16 to 18 months to complete. Once completed, the popular place where Rochesterians buy fresh produce will have a new 13,000-square-foot indoor shed and a new outdoor shed capable of holding 48 extra vendors.

"By uplifting the market we believe we'll be uplifting the entire neighborhood and the city of Rochester," Mayor Lovely Warren said Friday.

The finished construction project will also feature more restrooms and four new food stands. The market will also have a new logo, which Warren unveiled at the public reveal. There won’t be any additional parking spots and the rental price for outdoor vendors won’t change.

During construction, the market will remain open with its regular hours. The shuttle from nearby parking lots to the market will remain intact as well. Additional parking for shoppers will open up at the Freddie Thomas Middle School parking lot on Scio Street.

The upcoming project is the first major overhaul of the space where John Wegman first came to sell food before a grocery store empire was born. The public market lost one of its important characters earlier this year when longtime saxophonist Hosea Taylor Jr. died.

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"For 100 years this has been a meeting place and an eating place," said Lt. Gov Kathy Hochul, an upstate New York native.



The public market, where the city held a food truck rodeo earlier this week, has long been Rochester's go-to spot for farm fresh produce. Although it's open throughout the week, the market is most busy on Saturdays, when more than 300 vendors are present. In 2010, the public market was named America’s Favorite Farmers Market.

Warren said the renovation is taking place, in part, to accommodate the growing waiting list of vendors who want to sell there.

The construction was supposed to start last year, but when the city put out bids for the project, the two best contractors pitched a price that was $2 million more than the city's estimate. The city reopened the bids in January and found a suitable contractor.

The entire project will happen in phases and shoppers can expect to see construction progress along the way.

In the first phase, construction workers will redo utility lines, sidewalk pavement and construct the new outdoor shed. The new shed will look somewhat like the original 1904 shed that was demolished in 1963.

"This shed will be energy-efficient and more in harmony with the architectural and historic nature of the market," Warren said.

Once the new shed is finished, vendors inside the indoor shed will be moved to a temporary location so the indoor shed can get a facelift.

Public dollars will fund the entire renovation. The state Agriculture Department is pitching in $2 million as well as Empire State Development. City capital funds and bonds will pay for $3.5 million and the Dormitory Authority of New York State will pay $500,000.

KJBROOKS@gannett.com

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