Farmers market in Merced will make move Saturday

Merced’s weekly farmers market will officially move to the heart of downtown on Saturday, according to organizers.

The City Council unanimously approved the move last month, the first big success for the Main Street Association, a coalition of business owners who have sway over how downtown is marketed and used.

The certified farmers market has been a staple of Merced’s downtown since 1980, and has traditionally been held in a parking lot at 18th and N streets. But, as of this weekend, it will move to Bob Hart Square, where it will spill into a cul-de-sac on Canal Street and into an adjacent parking lot.

Daniel Kazakos, president of the association, said there are number of new efforts underway on Main Street, and the farmers market is no small part of that. “It probably could be the turning point for the downtown,” he said.

Kazakos said it took half a year to clear the hurdles, but moving the market is the first piece of a plan the association seeks to implement. The group wants to make the market a fun place for families on Saturday mornings.

The event Saturday will include live jazz, a booth run by the association, and a number of vendors. The group hopes to expand artisan offerings in the coming months.

The move is a way to drive up traffic on Main Street.

The association was awarded a contract in January to oversee the downtown marketing and a tax paid by business owners in the area, which amounts to about $60,000 a year.

David Gonzalves, the director of Development Services for Merced, has said the agreement does not give the association total control over Bob Hart Square on Saturdays. He stressed that there is room for other groups to use it.

The move, if it successfully increases pedestrian traffic, could be a boon for farmers as well. Some smaller growers rely on farmers markets as a large part of their incomes.

The association has also requested that the farmers market sign on a median on N Street be moved to a location near the market’s new home.

Certified farmers markets, which are regulated by the state Department of Agriculture, require that most of what is sold come from the sellers’ farms or neighboring farms.

The market is set to run from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday.

This story was originally published May 4, 2015 at 2:02 PM with the headline "Farmers market in Merced will make move Saturday."