RiverCenter wants Uptown Market Days to leave Broadway median

An ongoing disagreement between two Columbus non-profit organizations over the use of the city-owned median in the 900 block of Broadway has spilled over into the city manager’s office for resolution.

RiverCenter for Performing Arts Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Norman Easterbrook has been pushing to restrict the access of Uptown Market Days in front of his facility.

Uptown Columbus, Inc., which runs the weekly Saturday morning Market Days along Broadway, is seeking continued use of the 900 block median as it plans for the start of the 2018 season in April, said President Ross Horner.

“I have heard from Norm and I have heard from Ross,” Hugley said on Friday. “Obviously, they have a disagreement.”

Hugley has asked Deputy City Manager Pam Hodge to work with Horner, Easterbrook and a small number of representatives from each board to attempt to resolve the dispute.

“I want to bring them together and give them an opportunity to reach an agreement and work together on the use of that median on Broadway,” Hugley said.

The median is owned by the city. When an agreement is reached, a memorandum of understanding will be signed, and it will be taken to city council for its consideration, Hugley said.

“Going forward, there will be no dispute, there will be an understanding, and we will move forward,” Hugley said.

The issue involving the use of the 900 block median has been brewing for at least 18 months, and it is time for a resolution, said Uptown Inc. Board Chairman Reynolds Bickerstaff. Both organizations are scheduled to meet with Hodge next week, Bickerstaff said.

“I thought we would have had a resolution and moved on by now,” Bickerstaff said. “We will have a meeting next week, and we will get a resolution then.”

The importance of Market Days does not need to get lost in the disagreement, Bickerstaff said.

“Market Days is one of the main drivers bringing people into uptown,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s no longer an event, it’s a ritual.”

Market Days began in 2007 with seven vendors operating on the west side of the 1000 block of Broadway. It has grown to more than 200 vendors and stretches from Ninth Street to 12th Street, with most of the vendors on the east side of Broadway or in the median in the 900 block.

It runs all year, but the new season starts each April. The number of vendors shrinks after Thanksgiving. Uptown Columbus charges each vendor a $150 annual fee. That has risen from the $25 fee about five years ago. The Saturday morning hours traditionally are from 9 a.m. to noon, but some vendors will open early and remain open as late as 2 p.m.

During the spring, summer and fall, Market Days brings hundreds of visitors into uptown for the fresh produce, food items and crafts.

“There is no question Market Days has contributed to the success you are now seeing in uptown,” Hugley said.

But according to Easterbrook, the fairly recent move into the 900 block restricts the RiverCenter from providing programing during those hours.

“We can’t with confidence book events during that time,” Easterbrook said. “We are never sure what’s outside our door or how long it will be there.”

Horner is careful when talking about the dispute over the use of the 900 block median.

“We have had a yearlong discussion with the RiverCenter about the setup for Market Days,” Horner said. “We have also been talking with other merchants about doing the best thing that will allow all of them to benefit from Market Days.”

As it works to plan for next year, Uptown Inc. currently is evaluating Market Days and looking at potential changes next year, Horner said. Uptown will begin to sign up vendors for next year in January.

“The most important thing is for Market Days to continue to be a farmer’s market-driven activity,” Horner said. “That is and should be the primary draw.”

Just like the Market Days are evolving, so is the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, Easterbrook said.

“We need to have the building free and unencumbered,” Easterbrook said.

Easterbrook has said that when vendors are unloading and loading their wares and booths, they block the roadway and access to the city parking deck across the street which is used by the RiverCenter patrons.

One solution he offered was moving Market Days off the median and onto the sidewalk on the west side of Broadway in the 900 block.

Market Days expanded into the 900 block in the spring of 2015, said former Uptown Columbus Inc. President Richard Bishop, who started the weekly event a decade ago. Bishop retired in December 2016 and currently is working in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“The reason we moved down there was the RiverCenter wanted more exposure, and they thought getting more people down there would do that,” Bishop said.

It started with vendors on the east sidewalk in front of the RiverCenter and into the plaza area, as well as the Broadway median across from the performing arts center. That is the only section of Broadway median that has a paved walking path the length of the block.

“A lot of our vendors preferred that area, especially the farmers,” Bishop said of that median. “The tree canopy was good for them and their produce.”

Easterbrook was hired to run the RiverCenter in the summer of 2015, and since then the organization’s attitude toward the Market Days in that block shifted, Bishop said.

“I will say this,” Bishop said. “The initial move was to limit where we could go on that block with the long-term motive of getting us off the block.”

The RiverCenter maintains the median on that block, and the weekly use of that space by Market Days makes it difficult on upkeep, Easterbrook said.

“We would like to do some things to beautify it and restore the landscape,” Easterbrook said.

Uptown Columbus began to move vendors off the sidewalk in front of the RiverCenter beginning last year. In the past, the RiverCenter had opened its lobby and bathrooms, but they are now closed to the public on Saturday mornings.

There was a practical and cost reason for that, Easterbrook said.

“When the restrooms were open, we had to hire security guards and pay for custodial workers,” Easterbrook said. “It was extra help, and it was expensive to us for a non-revenue generating activity. Some people say we should do this as a community service, but we do a lot of things as a community service.”

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 3:50 PM with the headline "RiverCenter wants Uptown Market Days to leave Broadway median."