City staff to run new Market Square

The fledgling Market Square being established at the former train station on Elgin Street will be run by staff and a volunteer board, city council decided on May 14.

Councillors voted to establish an 11-member Greater Sudbury New Downtown Market Working Group, which will include members of the public, city council, market vendors, a representative from the Sudbury and District Health Unit, Eat Local Sudbury and Downtown Sudbury.

The market opens this year June 22 and will close Oct. 27.

The working group will advise city staff, who will maintain control over running the market, at least for the first year.

The management structure was a disappointment for some councillors, who wanted to turn control of the market over to a volunteer management board, similar to the group that runs the Sudbury Airport.

“I'm still very disappointed in the idea of not allowing a volunteer group to run this particular market,” said Ward 11 Coun. Terry Kett. “Nine years ago, the airport was losing money hand over fist, and a group of dedicated volunteers came in, and just look at it now.”

Kett said the group running the airport has managed a complete turnaround, with the number of flights and passengers soaring, more airlines coming in and growth in revenue and employment. He said a similar structure could work for Market Square.

“Now we're back to an advisory group, and I'm very disappointed in that,” he said. 

Ward 5 Coun. Ron Dupuis agreed, saying he was on council when the management structure at the airport changed.

“And I can remember the resistance we got from staff, but it's been one of our big successes,” Dupuis said. “There's nothing saying we can't have the same success here. We just need to have faith in people.

“An advisory panel is great, but I would still like to see it run by an outside board.”

But Ward 7 Coun. Dave Kilgour said the two cases are not comparable, since the market is just establishing itself in a new location, unlike the airport, which had a long history.

“One of the big differences is when the airport was set up, it already had, for good or bad, 20 years of operation,” Kilgour said. “It also had guaranteed funding and regulation from the federal government. We don't have any of that for this market.”

Kilgour supported establishing the market working group for the duration of council's term, which runs until the fall of 2014.

“I would encourage council to give it one year to establish itself before we do anything drastic,” he said. “There are a lot of decisions that have to be made. We are uncertain about what we can do inside the building.

“With all of this uncertainty, to compare it to the airport, and the airport corporation, is, I think, completely unfair ... At least until we get everything in place and operational.”

The market was forced to move after the city sold the downtown land where it’s currently located to Laurentian University. The school is building Sudbury’s new school of architecture on the site, and paid $3 million for the property, money that will be used to fund Phase 1 of the new market square.

A staff report offered options for a new business model for the square, including changing the operating hours to catch a larger share of weekend campers who stock up on supplies on their way out of town in summer.

Markets in places like Brampton, Orillia and Welland operate on Saturday, the report notes. Many don’t operate Sundays, because the majority of the customer traffic comes Saturdays.

"Most markets are one-day operations with part-time managers,” the report says. “Sudbury might consider a part-time staff person and a Saturday-morning-only market with possible opening Friday evenings to capture ‘camp’ goers.”

Other cities have moved their markets without hurting sales, the report says, while suggesting hiring a part-time manager, a model that has worked well in other places. Like Sudbury’s, most markets are subsidized by municipalities.

In 2013, the market is projected to run a deficit of $68,750; in 2014, that is projected to drop to $55,550; and to $44,466 in 2016.

The report recommended the working group advise staff on running the market.
“Working closely with staff, the advisory panel will provide broader input and innovative thinking required to advance the market in the future,” the report says.

“This panel will make recommendations for all aspects of market operations including budget, programming, scheduling, promotions and maintenance.

The panel will provide an annual report to city council based on clearly identified performance measures. Delays in such things as negotiating with the CPR and completing an environmental assessment on the site have delayed progress on renovating the new market location. That means for 2013, much of the market will be outdoors in tents, as the indoor facility is prepared.

“The initial focus will be on the outside market,” the report says.

“Echoing the best of the Shaughnessy Market and fully integrated into the proposed Elgin Street Greenway, our new market will bring the colour and life of a vibrant market to the forecourt of the historic Elgin Street Station. It will acknowledge the rail history of the site and though full-featured, it will be compact and efficient."