KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Work is underway to further expand the Kalamazoo Farmers Market, which has already seen major changes over the past few years.
Phase 1 added sheds, vendor spaces, office, restrooms and parking to the site on Bank Street north of E. Stockbridge Avenue. The recent announcement deals with phase 2, which will put a 9,000-square-foot event center in the open space between the south parking lot and the building facilitating the office and bathrooms.
“It’s not just for the farmers market,” Kalamazoo Farmers Market Manager Katelyn Simpson said. “We’ll have the ability to rent the space out for corporate events, family functions.”
There will be a kitchen for cooking classes and demonstrations. The Kalamazoo Parks Department plans to base its youth development center out of the site. But Simpson said that mainly, the space will allow vendors to set up shop year-round.
“Having this space, I think, will be easier on our shoppers, because they can keep coming to the same location every single Saturday and I think it’s a little bit bigger. We can fit more vendors in there to help support that,” she said.