CLEVELAND — Vendors at the West Side market have been sounding the alarm for years, asking Cleveland city leaders to keep the historic landmark a part of the city’s future. Now, Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration has released a master plan that would keep his campaign promise of updating and renovating the aging, at times unusable, market infrastructure, but will the proposal make it out of the ‘plan’ stage? Only time will tell.
In February, the Bibb administration began the process to move the city-owned and managed market to still being city-owned but managed by a nonprofit called Cleveland Public Market Corporation. The mezzanine, which overlooks the market hall, will become public seating, event space, and a place for cooking classes.
Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin said he has reservations about using $15 million of ARPA funds to renovate the basement.