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Things are moving along very swiftly at Eastern Market. At noon today, Councilmember Wells and Mayor Fenty will be groundbreaking the temporary structure on the site of Hine Jr. High. At numerous meetings held by Councilmember Wells and government officials since the terrible fire, all interested and affected people have had the opportunity to discuss their concerns and desires. The community at large was heard, the merchants and their employees have been heard, the vendors have been heard and the Hine, Jr. High community has been heard. The community overwhelmingly supported a plan to keep the merchants’ temporary location as close to the permanent market as possible and to quickly get the merchants up and running. The outpouring of support for merchants has been phenomenal. The Capitol Hill Community Foundation with its “Our Market More Than a Building” fund has received over $220,000 in contributions to be directed toward support for the merchants and their employees until they are securely ensconced in their old, but newly refurbished, permanent location. It seems at times that all eyes and concern are directed only toward the welfare of the merchants.
But that is not all there is to the market story. As has been stated repeatedly by many residents and city officials, there will be sacrifices. We will all have to make them. Some of us have already been sacrificing. When we couldn’t get our chicken from Melvin and had settle for second best, or when we had to go across town to get Andalusian sausage because the we couldn’t get it at the Market. There are many of these stories out there. We have all become accustomed to making our regular purchases from the Market and knowing just which merchant would have the best quality, the exact cut or the unusual vegetable. But there are going to be even greater sacrifices to be made and they will come mostly from the neighbors living closest to the site of the temporary market at Hine, Jr. High and the students who will lose most of their outdoor play area.
I was at (yes another) Eastern Market meeting Wednesday night where residents closest to the new site gathered to be heard as they shared their own desires and concerns. Many of the same concerns reported at other forums were echoed last night including: worries about traffic, trash, rats, noise, smells and safety. But last night when they raised these same issues, it was very personal to these residents. These folks are the ones who will suffer the most from the traffic, trash, noise, smells, rats and insecurities about safety. Councilmember Wells assembled a cadre of pertinent government officials to respond to each of the issues raised and many of the concerns were assuaged by promises from officials to keep the local residents in mind as they move forward to find solutions. Another comfort came in the form of the identification of a neighborhood point of contact who will see to it that government is held to its promises. For the rest of us who don’t live next door to the new site, we should be mindful that we don’t add to the commotion. We can do our part in simple ways by not dropping litter, keeping our own noise levels low paying attention to pedestrians as we drive down 8th Street and being patient and kind to one another as we all try to get through a tough time together.
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2007-05-18 23:11:03 Like everyone in the neighborhood, I'm certainly glad things are moving swiftly. Given that this is a publicly-funded effort, however, I have a few questions: Is this a no-bid contract for Turner Construction? Is a list of subcontractors available? And what ever happened to the management contractors for Eastern Market, Eastern Market Venture? It is nearly three weeks since the fire, but nothing has been heard from them or about them. |
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