Indianapolis development officials seek new operator, ideas for revamped City Market

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11 thoughts on “Indianapolis development officials seek new operator, ideas for revamped City Market

  1. I believe I read somewhere that it had to be used as a city market or it would revert back to the family that donated it to the city – is that correct?

    1. Does this comment reflect a bias of some sort against open minded thinking? thinking out of the box? Of maybe looking for better ways to do things that might increase citizen and customer participation? Or just something new and different that might spark other ideas?

      Might be no one has a great idea, but why would it hurt to broadcast a wide ranging appeal and see what comes up. Once upon a time, in the late 1960s there was this bizarre idea to consolidate the city and county government. 55 years later, Unigov still is working. Building a new baseball stadium downtown? A football stadium? A big Convention Center? White River Park? The Lawn at White River Park? Market Square Arena and then the Fieldhouse? Many years ago, Garfield Park. Building two great big resevoirs near Indy to increase recreational activities and help with water supplies to a growing city.

    2. Tim, calm down. Ideas are fine, but comparing City Market with the Hoosier Dome (which we are still paying for) and Geist Reservoir is a bit of a stretch

      The first sentence in your previous comment says it all.. you’re not willing to fund it. Someone has to fund it. If there was a solid business plan, a private organization would have already done it, so of course the funding will come from us taxpayers. Right now we are busy funding the Fever’s new playpen for about $100M, so we need a little time to recover from that.

    3. Chuck W. I’m very calm. I don’t fund my idea because I lack the funds. Should I hit the Megamillions or Powerball, that could change. I disagree with your comment regarding if it was a good idea someone would already have taken it on. Until now, there hasn’t been an open invitation to come up with ideas. It was assumed the folks who are soaking us on the Gold Building would figure out how to make the Market profitable. I thinks its great the City has now admitted it doesn’t necessarily have a winning idea, and invites the public to participate in the planning.

      The point of my bias comment was Kevin P’s ongoing commentary that apparently anyone who has an idea differing from his, or has an opinion at all, is biased. The Hoosier dome was a pipe dream. Market Square Arena was a pipe dream. The White River Park and Lawn were pipe dreams. The Natatorium was a pipe dream. Victory Field was a pipe dream. Lucas Stadium was a pipe dream. Lots of major and not so major projects were pipe dreams. But even pipe dreams can become reality if people unleash their collective creativity. So I guess I admit to a bias…I think people can come together and accomplish great things if their creativity is unleashed. We know the prior approach didn’t work…let’s let people see what they can come up with if they have a nearly clean sheet to work from…

  2. I’m not offering to fund it, but…

    After hearing of the experiences of friends whose kids are trying to plan weddings, maybe clear the main hall and make it a true reception facility, and move the food vendors to a side wing? Maybe a commercial kitchen that could be rented out during the week as an incubator for would-be bakers and chefs, to give them a place to learn the necessary skills and develop their concepts. A place for pop-up restaurants? The commercial kitchen could support the reception hall and pop-ups and might be folks.

    Just a thought. I don’t think full usage other than lunch time will happen if the main floor is filled (or only half filled) with food vendor booths. I think it needs to be a reception hall. Keep the Farmers Market concept, maybe moving that into the main hall on rainy or cold days for a once or twice a week event. Give local residents and those working in downtown offices somewhere to easily buy fresh veggies and fruit and whatever. But those stalls are removed, leaving a cleared space.

    Maybe such a cleared hall becomes a small concert venue? Seems to be demand for that now. Acoustics would be a bit suspect without some work…

  3. This should’ve been done years ago. The city has no idea what they are doing this. The Garage and the Amp are doing fine. The city has too many projects going on and can’t figure out what to focus on.

  4. Bring it back to being a regular real market, at least a substantial part of it. It won’t work anymore as 90% food court for the lunch crowd. Start with specialist vendors of high quality food: a butcher, baker, wine merchant, cheese shop, produce stand. Cluster these uses together and make certain that all the displays are beautiful. People will buy more than ready-to-eat prepared foods, and the prices need not be hyper-competitive so long as the products are of top quality they like the experience of place. Don’t let it be just another barely functional effort to serve basic needs – make it charming so people can love it

  5. It would have been nice if the Market could have stayed open for the last year and a half during this procedure such an embarrassment to the City and the local developers. The property is becoming an eyesore.

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