Save Eastern Market

I have the luxury of working from home on occasion, and I took that opportunity this morning so I could pop out at 10 AM and see Mayor Fenty's press conference at Eastern Market. All in all, the news he and Councilman Tommy Wells had to share was both sobering and encouraging; they said the conservative estimate is that it will take 18 to 24 months and around $30 million to completely rebuild and restore the Market's South Building. Fenty is appointing a single DC official who will serve solely as the project manager for the rebuilding effort, and said that there were already a few possibilities being looked at for for a temporary structure in the neighborhood that can house the indoor food vendors and their various needs (refrigerators, food processing machinery, ovens, and the like). And happily, all the weekend outdoor Market activities -- the normal flea markets and vendor displays, and Sunday's Market Day -- will go on as planned.

After the press conference, I was impressed to see Fenty spend more than half an hour just walking among the crowd, talking to vendors and neighborhood residents about his commitment to making the rebuilding a reality. Hovering nearby, I heard him return to a few key phrases -- “18 to 24 months is the conservative effort, but we're going to try to get it done faster than that,” “Eastern Market defines the Capitol Hill neighborhood unlike anything else,” and “we're going to give you back the Market that you've been coming to for years” (which I hope means more the atmosphere, vendors, and ambiance, and not the electrical and fire suppression systems).