Sarasota Farmers Market considers growth, permanent location

As the Sarasota Farmers Market has established itself as a popular institution downtown — drawing in more than 10,000 people on peak Saturdays and expanding to Wednesdays during this past season — the organizers behind the event are thinking about the future.

With the amount of construction ongoing downtown, some of it in the shadow of the market’s footprint, that future could include more events per week and a permanent structure for the market to use. While the conversation is still very loose and conceptual, market leaders want to begin an earnest discussion.

On Tuesday, Sarasota Farmers Market Manager Phil Pagano led a “vision meeting” to gather input from market vendors and attendees, the beginning of a broader public examination of the direction the market is heading in. With assistance from local architect Bryan Easter, the meeting focused on national trends associated with farmers markets and models that could potentially be emulated in Sarasota.

The meeting showcased a variety of different models for permanent spaces for farmers markets, something Pagano suggested would be a good step for the Sarasota market. A lack of permanent bathrooms has been an issue for the market for some time, and its offices would be displaced if the second phase of Pineapple Square construction were to begin.

Those models ranged from simple sheds or overhanging roofs that offered shade to intricate mixed-use buildings. Pagano was particularly fond of “The Farmery,” a building concept developed by a Durham, N.C.-based team that combines a market, space for growing crops and a café.

Pagano said he was inspired by a recent conversation regarding a city-owned parcel in Pineapple Park, which the city is considering selling to a private developer as part of the nearby State Street parking garage project.

“I was over by the space, and I thought, ‘It's too bad we didn't do something with this,’” Pagano said.

Now, he wants the market to be more in tune with the available opportunities downtown. One option thrown out at Tuesday’s meeting by an audience member was pursuing the current downtown SCAT transfer station site on First Street, a popular suggestion among those in attendance.

Although Pagano is skeptical the market could sustain an everyday presence — he was intent on continuing to center the event around the vendors that currently participate — he said it's also worth considering the option of expanding beyond just the Saturday market when thinking about long-term planning.

More than anything, he's intent on keeping control of the future of the market in the hands of the people who make it a success today.

“I think this being the first meeting, we’ll give the info to our board of directors and try to move forward with something in the future,” Pagano said. “Years down the road, who knows? I think people have to start thinking about doing something, or someone's going to start thinking about it for you.”