The downtown square that currently hosts the Saturday morning Ocala Farm Market is going to be the new site of an upscale hotel that is going to help serve as the foundation for a revived downtown.
The market, which is comprised of vendors who sell a variety of foods and crafts, could be moving as early as the Spring of 2016. The new farm market’s location will be at the corner of Southeast Third Street and Southwest Fourth Avenue, which will inevitably see less traffic, which poses a bit of a fear for vendors.
Hopefully, the new location will help the market create its own location identity, rather than simply as an event attached to the downtown square.
The new location is the former impound lot across from Ocala Electric Utility and will offer infrastructure that the current open-air market cannot, most notably, a cover to protect vendors form the elements and fans to help keep the market cool.
As for the hotel downtown, hopefully drawing more people to the area and continuing to revitalize the downtown square will have nothing but a positive economic impact on the city.
For more info on market’s move and the downtown revamp, check out the article at ocala.com.
