The Lansing City Market, established in 1909, is Mid-Michigan's oldest continuously operating public market and offers shoppers year-round access to fresh produce, locally produced food, flowers , the work of local artisans and a full-service bar and grill.
Lansing City Market is a permanent urban market, differing from traditional farmers markets that usually open seasonally and only for a day or two each week, requiring vendors to set up and tear down their booths each market day.
We visited on a recent weekday to shop a bit and to explore the market's history and its relatively new home in a building often referred to by locals as the "red barn".
I found a historical marker for the market oddly tucked between the men's and women's bathrooms in a short hall off of the market's main floor and learned a bit about the market's history and its former home for 71 years.
There was a great celebration in 1938 when the market opened in the building it called home for 71 years before moving a short distance into the current "barn" along the Grand River in downtown Lansing in 2010.
The 1930s vintage building was partially financed by the Works Progress Administration and Public Works Administration as a pretty typical Great Depression-era public works project.
The market traces its origins back to the city's North Side Commercial Club who blocked off Turner Street for a farmers market twice each week and proved the worth of establishing a city-sponsored market near the current market building in 1909.
Today's market has 11,000 square feet of indoor space that can accommodate as many as 35 vendors. An additional 3,000 to 4,000 square feet of space outside offers room for seasonal vendors during the warmer months.
The building, constructed at a cost of $1.6 million, opened to the public in January of 2010 after the market's Depression-era home closed on Christmas Eve of 2009.
We heard that the market's cheese booth was a must-stop, so we made a beeline for Hill's Cheese for a few samples. Hill's happened to be celebrating its 52nd year at the Lansing City Market, so we got our purchases in a complimentary reusable market bag!
We also stopped at Aggie Mae's bakery booth next to Hill's for a loaf of homemade bread to go with our cheeses.
The market offers weekly programs like Family Education Days with nutrition lessons and food samplings geared for families with young children, discounts for students and seniors on specified days, food demonstrations, and live music on Saturday mornings.
The market also hosts special events like its Grand Art Market each August.
The market's location along the Grand River and Lansing's River Trail makes it convenient for walkers and bicyclists to visit and further encourages the use of green transportation alternatives with the city's installation of a solar-powered, two-bay electric vehicle charging station near the market in April 2013.
Market visitors should also check out "Inspiration", a 20-foot-tall, 2,000-pound stainless-steel sculpture by James T. Russell that sits along the river and just north of the market.
The Lansing 150 Foundation presented the $225,000 sculpture to the city to celebrate Lansing's 2009 Sesquicentennial, installing it near the market in 2011.
The Lansing City Market is on City Market Drive (formerly known as Museum Drive, which is where our GPS went looking for it), just south of where Cedar and Shiawassee Streets meet.
There are several free parking options, including spaces on either side of the market building and in a lot just south of the market.
Lansing City Market hours are 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Thanks to the Greater Lansing Michigan Convention and Visitors Bureau for sponsoring my visit to Lansing, providing lodging, meals and a tour of Lansing area attractions for my review during my recent visit there, with no further compensation. I was free to express my own opinions about the stay and experiences, and the opinions expressed here are mine.
© Dominique King 2013 All rights reserved
I had no idea - THANK YOU!
Posted by: wanderingeducators | April 17, 2014 at 02:14 PM