RECENT COMMENTS
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Urban Design Committee to review concept for new 17th Street Farmer’s Market
The agenda for the July 10 meeting of the Urban Design Committee includes a look at a the “Conceptual Location, Character and Extent Review of the redesign of the 17th Street Farmer’s Market”:
The 17th Street Market project provides an urban, multi-purpose outdoor living room in the historic Shockoe Bottom National Historic District. The design of the plaza encourages both casual and highly programmed uses by providing an open field, outdoor rooms within bands of plantings and mature trees, pedestrian walkways and dedicated dining/retail zones for businesses fronting the square.
The proposed design of the 17th Street Market includes removal of the existing shed structure and the closing of 17th Streets North and South to vehicular traffic. The existing bull heads (from 6th St. Market) and the market bell will be incorporated into the new design. The existing cobblestone fishtail pavers will be incorporated into the new design. The street surfaces will be raised to match adjacent sidewalks creating a storefront-to-storefront pedestrian plaza, roughly the size of a football field.
Dedicated dining and retail space project out from the opposing building facades to encourage outdoor dining delineated by city standard brick pavers bounded by a line of re-used granite curbs from 17th Streets. Café dining railings, planters and furniture will comply with the COR Department of Planning and Development Review Sidewalk Café Design Guidelines. Opportunities for building mounted awnings will be provided to businesses lining 17th Street Market.
Adjacent to these dining zones lies an eight-foot wide pedestrian walkway running from Main Street to East Franklin Street.
Planting and tree bands, punctuated by masonry site benches and various sized “outdoor rooms” provide the interior edge of the pedestrian walkways. Within these bands, a modular subsurface integrated tree and storm water system supports the growth of larger caliper trees and deciduous shrubs while reducing storm water runoff. Pervious granite paving material routes storm water to the system and define open areas within the bands – some small enough for private conversation, others large enough for classes or group gatherings. The planting and tree bands provide space for bicycle racks, kiosks containing wayfinding and community-oriented signage and restrooms, smaller public art works and site-specific artifacts.
A thirty-foot wide zone marks the center of the 17th Street Market, allowing versatile, programmable space for outdoor markets, festivals, concerts, outdoor movies, and other activities and events the market managers and the people of Richmond bring to the space. A large-scale public artwork, designed into the project as a placeholder for a future yet funded installation, at the Main Street side and a pop-jet style splash pad at the East Franklin Street side serve as landmarks and place-making demarcations.
Project lighting includes puck-style lighting to illuminate the pedestrian pathway, wall mounted fixtures on the informational kiosks, integrated lighting within the fountain jets. Pedestrian scale City of Richmond standard lantern-type fixtures attach to taller poles at either edge of the main paver field, marching down the plaza and located within the one-foot wide re-used paver bands. These poles support banners, speakers, WiFi equipment, an overhead catenary cable system grid at twenty feet above the paving surface, and a festoon lighting system. Several openings within the cable grid allow City of Richmond’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services ladder access to adjacent buildings. All lights are to be LED.
OK, what ever happened to the 2012 proposal of reconstructing the original 19th century style enclosed farmer’s market multi-story brick building and courts?
http://urbanscalerichmondvirginia.blogspot.com/2012/01/proposal-for-17th-street-market.html
/2012/01/28/a-proposal-for-the-17th-street-market_21252/
When the 17th Street farmers market was last “renovated” no one thought to ask the farmers what their needs were. So display shelves were built that could not accomadate a bushel basket or shipping crates. I have a couple of friends who have been vendors at the Farmers Market for over 50 years. Nobody consulted them!
The foundation consisted of months of pile driving to support the tin roof.
This sounds like a good plan to me. The old time farmers are no longer. Most of the vendors there purchase their produce from wholesalers. These wholesalers used to be along Franklin, Main and Grace street. They too are gone.
A New Orleans type French Market would be a good fit.
Jean, as I remember when I lived in New Orleans the Farmer’s Market was both indoors and outdoors. The original Farmer’s Market like the 2012 plan was all indoors. But the current proposed plans seem to be a cheap cop out yet I am not a produce seller and if what you say is true, does it matter if it is outdoors or indoors? I would think a multi-floor structure could be used for more than a Farmer’s Market?
Recently I overheard a conversation mentioning that RVA on Ice, the ice rink that usually goes up behind the Carpenter Theatre during the winter, is relocating to the Farmer’s Market. Has anyone else heard this? Or is it just a rumor?
Someone needs to remind them of that 2012 plan…
Anyone know how to get a hold of this committee?
Never mind, found it… email:
DCDCompPlan@richmondgov.com
Website:
http://www.richmondgov.com/CommitteeUrbanDesign/index.aspx
I agree that the plans for the 2012 market is better, but what is the price difference? 100 fold? I think this looks a change on a “budget”.
My biggest concern is the lack of covered area for rainy days….
Eric and all – the 2012 “Urban Scale Richmond” plan was never a plan, it was merely a suggestion by an architect on the architect’s own initiative and never endorsed by anyone. It even says that on the links.
There have been dozens of well-attended meetings on THIS plan – attended by vendors, neighbors, businesses, the usual gadflies…
Please email me your input too @ jeannie.welliver@richmondgov.com.
This has been a community based project from the very beginning and we have held many community workshops to shape the design and have interviewed many community stakeholders. Please get involved! I am the project manager for this project for the city – please also access the presentation from our April Community Workshop on Richmondgov.com to understand how the design has evolved. Please come to the UDC meeting July 10 at 10:00 AM in City Hall, 5th floor conf. room if you can, we will be presenting the latest conceptual design.
The 2012 plan sounds great, as does this. As long as it doesn’t involve a stupid stadium, I’m all for it.
The main thing I see missing here is PARKING. This design removes existing parking and does not add any new parking. As much as we want Richmond to be walkable, we want more than just the local neighborhood to have access to the market. Without parking, this is impossible. Lack of parking is one of the main reasons people do not go to the market now (that and the hours are very limited).
Jeannie, All good and well to invite folks to a meeting and its open to the public. But I work at that time and not that interested to take vacation time , and get approval from my boss to attend.
I like the shed, it allows for rain and provide shade.
A parking lot is not a place.
As far as parking goes, I know the parking deck which is used by the city was originally designed with part of it assigned for the Main Street Train Station customers when it was going to replace the Staples Mill station years ago but Amtrak pulled the plug the day before opening. Can something be worked out for customer parking there?
I still think an indoor facility (which is weatherproof) that can be utilized space wise rather than basically a surface parking lot converted to a park, is more valuable and logical in the long run. If you can’t build out, build up.
Utilizing a building can benefit many such as indoor or portico style farmer markets, book stores, art gallery, coffee shop, flea markets, etc… and still have courts for people to walk and paths between blocks. Just not a valuable historic plot of land used as a glorified parking lot turned park. And the 2012 design replicates what was there before anyway built in 1854.
Agree with eds, parking is a big issue. Also, daytime meetings aren’t easy for most of us to attend. The 2 million price tag seems like a lot to give some restaurants patio space, but no parking to attract more customers.
Jeannie Welliver, I hope you intend to keep reading these comments, as it’s easier to post here than to email you in addition.