Please allow me a few moments of unabashed city boosterism.
The Boston Public Market is open at last and I couldn’t be more thrilled. About 20 first day enthusiasts, including me, rushed to the corner of Hanover and Congress streets to be first inside. As doors opened, one woman expressed our collective excitement –“Finally!” she declared.
Hard to believe the new bright sunny space took 20 years to become reality. Two decades of political arm twisting, organizing, and fundraising. All to turn the former storage center for Big Dig airshafts into a boutique commercial space showcasing Massachusetts’s farmers and artisans. Thirty-seven vendors now share twenty-eight thousand square feet organized in booths that are an explosion of color, sights and smells. In one corner a working beehive churns out honey, in another fresh out of the oven cider donuts are available for sampling. By the way, this is sample heaven. I strolled the aisles tasting mixed lettuces grown in East Boston, smoked fish, fruit vinegars, and Italian cheeses made in Amesbury. It took all that was holy to withstand the pull of the hand made candy and ice cream.
Right about now some of you may be asking, “Why is this such a big deal? Don’t we already have farmers markets?” We do, and they will continue, as will Boston’s well-known Haymarket. But unlike Haymarket, the Boston Public Market features only locally produced products sold in house by the growers and craftsmen themselves.
Year round public markets have long been featured attractions in other cities where they’ve become cultural touch points and small business boosters for natives and tourists alike. I’ve spent many happy hours roving the aisles of Seattle’s Pike Place Market, maybe the most well known public market in the country. Visitors flock to see the daily fish toss, a signature event, which helps, brand the space. And I’ve made the trek to public markets across the country-- Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, Eastern Market in DC, and Los Angeles’ huge Farmer’s Market.
Getting the Boston Public Market open is great, but it’s just the first step. Keeping it open will not be without risk for the city and the vendors. Right now the one-year-old Santa Barbara Public Market is mired in management troubles threatening the very future of the place. Already in Boston there has been some grumbling about this new venture--
Critics say, “It’s hard to park, the products are pricey, and it’s not very big.”
The Boston Public Market will have to weather these initial misgivings, and more importantly, make sure positive word of mouth is strong and steady. Long-term success will mean tourists make a stop at the Boston Market a part of their itinerary. And it will mean local residents, like me, will be frequent visitors. No problem. I’ll be back to lift a glass at the end of this month when the stall for the Massachusetts Farm Winery and Growers opens. Cheers!
