Farmer's Market to get major makeover

MOUNT PLEASANT — The popular weekly Farmer's Market at Moultrie Middle School on Coleman Boulevard soon will undergo a $750,000 to $1.5 million makeover that will enable the town's boulevard revitalization effort, officials said.

"In a lot of ways this is a catalyst for that redevelopment," said Lee Gastley, director of landscape architecture for Seamon Whiteside & Associates.

Construction is scheduled to begin the first week of November, he said.

For 11 years, fresh produce vendors at the Tuesday afternoon market have worked out of tents pitched weekly at the school. That will be a thing of the past beginning in April 2009 when the new market season begins.

Instead of tents, a total of 32 vendors will work out of two L-shaped open-air pavilions that bracket a half-acre plaza, which also will be used as an open-air classroom for the new $34 million Moultrie Middle now under construction. The school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2009.

Because of Moultrie Middle construction, the market has been operating at a temporary location next to the school.

The town owns acreage at Coleman Boulevard and Simmons Street where the new Farmer's Market will be located. Because of shared use, utilities for the site, including phone, electricity, gas, water and trash removal will be pro-rated between the town and the Charleston County School District. The town and district also will share maintenance and repair costs for the Farmer's Market, according to a joint-use agreement signed this month.

The market typically draws about 400 people for produce shopping, entertainment and dining. "It's a real social hour," Ashley McKenzie, market manager, said.

When not in use as the market, the facility will be available for other town-sponsored events, she said. "There's a lot of possibilities with this," she said.

Gastley declined to discuss exact project costs because the bidding process has just begun.

He estimated the Farmer's Market tab will run between $750,000 and $1.5 million. Town tax increment financing will fund the project.

The tax increment financing method borrows funds for improvements that are expected to increase property values, thereby generating more taxes to pay back the debt.

The $4 million boulevard redesign, which also is a tax-increment financing project, is intended to create a small-town Main Street atmosphere.The aim is a mixed-use development where people live, work and relax.

As part of the project, the town has placed utility lines underground from Shem Creek to Hibben Street, and it has attached decorative mast arms to boulevard lights, Eric DeMoura, deputy town administrator, said.

A citizens panel called the Coleman Boulevard Revitalization Advisory Board crafted key elements of the re-design for recommendation to Town Council.

"The CRAB and Council designated this area (the Farmer's Market) as a showpiece. We expect it will really be a place that will draw people out. That's why it's so important to the whole revitalization effort," DeMoura said.

He said the town decided to proceed with the new Farmer's Market now because it can be constructed before the new middle school opens.

The market offers a wide array of local produce. Butter beans, beets, blackberries, cabbage, onions and pecans are some examples.

The official list of what's sold at the market includes more than 40 South Carolina-grown fruits, nuts and vegetables.

The market begins on the second Tuesday in April and ends the third Tuesday in October. A bell is rung to mark the opening of the market at 3 p.m. and continues until dusk.

Vendors pay from $20 to $35 to sell produce on market day, and the town collects business license fees from them.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postandcourier.com.