It’s one of the changes that’s been talked about forever and ever — Sunday hours for the West Side Market.
Well, it’s finally happening.
The City of Cleveland confirmed that the market will be open on Sundays from noon to 6 beginning April 3. As Michelle Jarboe of the Plain Dealer notes in her report this morning and as we relayed in the story above, it doesn’t mean every vendor is going to be open — some, in fact, are very opposed. But the city says a survey showed 70% of vendors were in support of Sunday hours so the abstainers shouldn’t number too many. The next debate on the hours and days front would focus on extending Wednesday hours, Joe Cimperman has previously told Scene.
So there’s that.
Also happening and happening soon: paid parking (with some amount of free time, perhaps 30 to 60 minutes) that will debut in late 2016 or early 2017 and a “reconfigured” combination of the two parking lots behind the market. The one closer to the back doors of businesses on West 25th — the Hick’s lot — will be tackled first and then the main market lot. Yes, that means some sort of construction and inconvenience, yes that means about 100 extra spaces according to the city, and yes there will be more trees. A rendering for the parking lot design via the city of Cleveland is below.
This article appears in Mar 2-8, 2016.
Hallelujah
Excited about the Sunday hours. Not excited about the paid parking. This isn’t a tourist attraction for me, its my grocery store. Maybe consider selling passes at a discount for those of us that shop there regularly?
The parking will be free for the first 30 to 90 mins the way i understand it. plenty of time to shop. just not enough to park your car and go to an indians game, go to work downtown or for an afternoon of drinking etc it will help the WSM shopper by opening up the spaces that the space hogs occupy.
I basically raised my kids going to the west side market.
I and my husband use to put our kids on our shoulders while we shopped and then took groceries back and forth to our car. I have always wanted the longer hours during the week since i work late. I would appreciate the new Sunday hours but I also agree as well with these vendors who only get to spend this one day with their families. Maybe the stores can ulternate and opend every other week appose to every sunday. Stores 1 to 20 can open one sunday and 21 to 40 next Sunday with the variety of shops and so forth and so on.
Suggestions ?.