New Halifax farmers' market draws crowds

Thousands of people streamed into the new Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market on the waterfront Saturday when the doors opened at 7 a.m.

Nina Hamacher, who was a regular shopper at the old market in the former Keith's Brewery, said the newbuildingat Pier 20is an improvement for the most part.

"We really like it," Hamacher said. "There's a lot of people here today. I hope that it's not going to be like this every week. But, we really like it. It's open, it's not as hot as the other one.

"It doesn't have the charm of the other one, I guess. But I really like what they did with it. You can walk on the top and you can see everything. So you can actually have an overview of where the things are, so I think that's an advantage."

Shopper Erica MacKinnon also liked the much larger space billed as one of the most eco-friendly buildings in the world.

"I think it's great," she said. "There's a lot more space, so it's actually easier for me having kids."

Some vendors said they werebreaking sales records on their first day in the new building, which is not far from the old one. Janet Ross was selling Annapolis Valleyproduce hand over fist.

"It's a beautiful building," Ross said. "People are very pumped to be here. It's a beautiful location."

But not everyone is convincedthe change isan improvement.

Lars Osberg, a long-time shopperofthe market at theold brewerybuilding, isn't sure the new market will be popularin the long run.

"I think a lot of people have been coming to the old market for a long time, but they're trying this new one out. But time will tell whether they're going to continue making the switch to the new market."

Work not finished

About 70 vendors out of 200 opted to stay at the old market location, so both were open Saturday.

The new Seaport Market a massive 4,050 square metres, almost double the brewery space is designed with the environment in mind.

Four large wind turbines are on the roof of the facility, which will also feature solar panels, geothermal heating and a rooftop garden.

The municipal, provincial and federal governments, along with local investors,paid for the $11.5-million project through a community economic development fund.

Market manager Fred Kilcup said the new market will only be open one day instead of six for the next month because work needs to be done on the exterior of the building, the boardwalk and the rooftop deck. The market only opened on weekends at the brewery location.

Fishmonger Peter Boudreau said he is pleased with the new building.

"There's still a lot of construction to do here, but they're finishing it up," Boudreau said. "Guys have been working themselves crazy this week finishing up for us so we can operate and run a regular market for our customers.

"They'll see a full list and full retail selection of everything they're used to at the farmers market and then some. There's some new retailers here, as well."

Boudreau said the ultra-modern building is a drastic change from the historic brewery building.

"I love the wide open space, being able to stand in the market and being wide open that you can see down the entire market, the entire room," he said.

"I'm looking forward to seeing my old customers. That made the market.It wasn't the building, it was the people in it. And we brought those people here and I'm looking forward to seeing my new customers to come in and hopefully get as excited about this market as I have been."