Massachusetts officials plan to open a year-round indoor public market in the heart of Boston.
The state’s Department of Agricultural Resources plans to construct such a market inside an existing building at 136 Blackstone Street, on Parcel 7 in a large green space area near Haymarket Square.
Agriculture department commissioner Scott Soares said the 27,000 square feet inside the building would be part of an overall market district plan that would have Massachusetts growers selling products throughout the year such as fresh produce, jams and jellies, meat, fish, poultry and dairy.
“Like many states, we’re looking at jobs but we have also seen a great deal of consumer interest in buying and support local products,” Soares said. “Boston doesn’t have a year-round public market like many other cities. We are looking at identifying Massachusetts producers of various items but also looking at it being an important part of a regional food shed that can make for more opportunities to enhance regional production.”
Soares said fresh produce should be an important component in of the market’s offerings and said officials see the venue being an important venue for the marketing a variety of regional products that have helped build farmers markets throughout the U.S. He said he thinks the population of Massachusetts could help fuel such demand.
Soares said the target opening date is spring or summer of 2012.
Soares said a consulting firm’s study that plans to make recommendations on the project is due to be released in April.
Follow development of the market at www.mass.gov/publicmarket.
Comments (0) Leave a comment