The Project for Public Spaces, a nonprofit group based in New York, will announce today that it has tapped Cleveland as the host city for several days of discussions, events and tours.
The conference promises national and global attention for Cleveland's growing local food scene and the West Side Market, which will celebrate its 100th birthday late next year.
Representatives of the city, the Project for Public Spaces and local nonprofits will hold a news conference at the West Side Market at 1:30 p.m. They are considering several fall weekends, most likely in late September of next year, for the event.
The eighth International Public Markets Conference could occur shortly before or after Mayor Frank Jackson's annual sustainability conference, intended to focus on local food in 2012, and would be a prelude to the biggest of the West Side Market's birthday events.
Stephen Davies, senior vice president with the Project for Public Spaces, lauded Cleveland's pitch as the best of 20-something applications from potential host cities. The West Side Market and its upcoming centennial were key factors in helping Cleveland beat out finalists Seattle; Charleston, S.C.; along with Toronto and London.
"It was huge," Davies said. "It's one of the most stunning indoor public markets in the country, and there are not many left in the United States. There are some 150 of them, and Cleveland's historically is probably the grandest of them all."
David Gilbert, president of Positively Cleveland, the region's convention and visitors bureau, said the conference, which attracts roughly 300 people, may not be large in size "but it is large in importance."
"When you have conferences like this that have a real confluence with initiatives that our community is looking to highlight, that really helps," he said.
Spurred by the centennial, Mayor Jackson assembled a commission last spring to consider opportunities and potential improvements for the city-owned market building, market operations and the surrounding neighborhood. The effort, led by the city and Ohio City Near West Development Corp., also includes planning for events leading up to the market's birthday.
Ken Silliman, the mayor's chief of staff, said a report outlining recommendations for the market could be finished in late March or early April.
The city already plans to tackle roughly $400,000 in improvements to electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems at the market by early 2012.
"Cleveland is regaining the momentum it had in the mid-90s as a city on the move," Silliman said. "And now, as then, public-private partnerships play a major role in enabling that to happen. ... Leaders in that commission effort are largely responsible for getting this conference here."
Local businesses, nonprofit groups and foundations have committed more than $70,000 in cash and non-cash donations to support the public markets conference. A dozen organizations, ranging from Charter One bank to the MetroHealth System, wrote letters of support to the Project for Public Spaces and pledged assistance.
The city has offered to provide advertising and greeters at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and to open up the West Side Market for tours and conference events.
"As of right now, there's not any money from the city," said Eric Wobser, executive director of the Ohio City Near West neighborhood nonprofit group. "We'd like to keep it that way."
Occurring every few years, the public markets conference attracts market operators, planners, architects and food-policy enthusiasts from the United States and more than a dozen other countries. Past host cities include New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
In Cleveland, participants will stay at a downtown hotel, attend seminars and take daylong tours that could include trips to farmers markets, Amish country, local orchards, farms, dairies and urban gardens.
City Councilman Joe Cimperman, whose ward includes downtown and the Ohio City neighborhood, expects the conference to spotlight the growth of Cleveland's local-food economy and to add momentum to the Market District, the area surrounding the West Side Market. During the last year, a handful of restaurants, stores and small businesses have opened their doors or reserved spaces in the neighborhood, bringing bustle back to empty storefronts.
"Cleveland is in the top echelon of local-food cities," Cimperman said. "This is going to let people know why. The fact that the market will be the microphone to tell this story is really great."
Article Courtesy of Michelle Jarboe and The Cleveland Plain Dealer
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