Save Eastern Market

We got an email from the folks at Canales Quality Meats overnight, with an update on their hours and product availability over this weekend. They will continue to sell individually-packed products from the same wholesaler that they've always used, and will be operating out of a refrigerated truck on Seventh Street. Hours are from noon to 6 PM today, 7 AM to 6 PM Saturday, and 7 AM to 4 PM Sunday.

The list of what they have available (first come, first served!):

Beef: Tenderloin (Filet Mignon) in 1 inch steaks, Porterhouse Steaks, T-Bone Steaks, Domestic NY Strip Steaks, Rib Eye (Delmonico) Steak, Flat Iron Steak, Flank Steak, Skirt Steak, London broil, Ground Chuck, Ground Round

Pork: Tenderloin in packs of two, Boneless Center Cut Chops, Boneless American Cut Chops, Spare Ribs 1 or 3 slab packs, Baby Back Ribs, Bacon Skin Off 1 pound packs

Sausages: Smoked Chicken with Apple, Smoked Turkey and Chicken with Artichoke, Smoked Turkey and Chicken with Pesto, Smoked Turkey and Chicken with Portobello Mushrooms, Smoked Pork Cajun Style Andouille

Information as of September 14, 2007

With the grand opening of the East Hall on August 25th, almost all the merchants are now back in the Market! You'll find them in the big white temporary building that's situated immediately across Seventh Street from their prior location in the South Hall.

With Market Lunch's reopening this week, there is only one merchant that isn't yet open in the East Hall: Capitol Hill Poultry. We'll try to get an update on their status soon!

Friday night was the Spaghetti Dinner at Christ Church where we sampled John Phillip Sousa's mother's spaghetti recipe and browsed at the silent auction. While there, Gary Peterson of the CHCF announced that the total amount raised for the Eastern Market fund (before the dinner!) was $320,000. The biggest recent addition was from DC United game last weekend. The organization donated $3 from each ticket sale at that game, for a total of $46,000. Gary mentioned that while these amounts were impressive, the CHCF was just starting to get a sense of what the merchants are going to need before they can begin operating in the temporary facility (which they're calling the “East Hall”) next month. The city has asked CHCF to help outfit the merchants with some of the equipment, much of it very expensive, they need to operate. The fundraising isn't finished!

Saturday was the dedication of the window murals at the market, and they are fantastic! City Administrator Dan Tangherlini and Councilman Tommy Wells were on hand for the dedication, though the mayor wasn't able to make it. (Did anybody else notice that Saturday was the only weekend day with construction activity in the Hine playground since they broke ground on the East Hall building? A bit suspicious...) If you haven't had a chance to see them in person, here's a photo album of the installations (found via the blog Painterly Visions).

The whole dedication ceremony had a rather festival feel, with the East of the River Boys & Girls Steel Band performing, and the kindergardners of Peabody School-Within-School in attendance with their teacher, Marla McLean, and sampling of their Eastern Market artwork.

While we're on the subject of art, check out this picture of the inside of the market from the photoblog of Ohad Ben-Yoseph. Ohad also grabbed the shot featured in this post last week.

Finally, the fall-off in business at the market here we've mentioned before is covered in a Washington Post article today as well. The article, “Vendors Ask, Where Is Everybody?”, is a good reminder that the word is still not out that the market is open and functioning. We've put up a page detailing the latest info on where and how each of the South Hall merchants is currently operating; tell somebody today!

Flickr photo by Jennifer

First and foremost today: Hey, DCist, what're you thinking?!? The post about the pending closing of the Burtonsville Amish market makes two references to Eastern Market being closed down, which couldn't be further from the truth. This is especially true with regard to the weekend Market farmer's line, the part of the Market that DCist is referring to; the outdoor farm vendors were only affected by the fire in that they now have to share space with the half-dozen indoor merchants who have set up shop under the Seventh Street shed. Of course, the farmers also share in the business downturn... which is, in part, due to a lot of DC residents not knowing that the Market is open for business, a fact that's made all the more clear by the DCist post. We're clearly preaching to the choir here at Save Eastern Market, but it's just as clearly important for all of us to keep also preaching to everyone else in our lives who might not know that they can come back to the Market!

Speaking of the business slowdown, WTOP news republished an AP story today, with quotes from vendors saying that customer numbers are way down, as is revenue. Hopefully, the rain this weekend and the holiday last weekend had something to do with it, but it's pretty obvious that there's a lot of work to be done bringing people back to the Market.

The June issue of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society newsletter is online, and the first and fourth pages contain a great article on the truss system that was designed by Adolf Cluss to hold up the roof of Eastern Market's South Hall. The trusses were made of cast iron, a much more brittle material than today's more common wrought iron or structural steel, and evaluating the iron for damage is one of the most important steps that remains in determining the extent of the fire's damage to the roof. The newsletter also contains a call for any older Eastern Market photos that people might have in their family albums or slide boxes -- most important are photos taken between 1873 and 1969. If you have any, please give Tom Jester (of Quinn Evans Architecture) a call at 202-298-6700.

Not a lot in the news today, alas.

One uplifting bit of info: the numbers are in, and Philadelphia's Reading Market raised over $1,000 in loose change and other donations to Philbert the Pig! That's awesome -- as we've said before, we all owe the Reading Market a debt of gratitude, and we're certainly going to try to go through there during our trip to the Philly area this weekend. (Since we'll be out of town the entire weekend, we might even do our regular weekly shopping there!)

Thanks go out to Heather Champ for featuring before-and-after-the-fire pictures of Eastern Market on the FlickrBlog; it's a stark reminder of what was lost inside the South Hall, on a pretty high-profile site to boot. (And the after photo is from Ohad Ben-Yoseph, a photographer we've featured here a bunch of times over the past few weeks.)

There's quite a bit of news about the progress of the East Hall (the new name for the temporary building being constructed on the Hine Junior High schoolyard lot), all passed on by Gary Peterson. First, the city's order for all the new refrigeration and freezer equipment has been placed; it's anticipated to be delivered in four to six weeks, and will take another week or two to be installed. This puts the prospective opening for the building in mid-July at the earliest, and in early- to mid-August at the latest, but the city is still committed to a July opening so we'll see how it all pans out. Second, while the city paid for all that equipment, CHCF has been asked to help pick up the tab for much of the smaller equipment, and looking at numbers that means that CHCF likely needs to raise another $100,000 or so. So let's keep up the fundraising and get our merchants back indoors!

We received the latest Flea Market at Eastern Market newsletter via email tonight, and are happy to see that it highlights a new advertising campaign which aims to raise awareness throughout the DC metro area that Eastern Market is still open for business. The ads are all designed by Edge Advertising, and aim to help bring back the business that's been lost since the South Hall fire. The same folks are also working on getting the two different official Market-related websites -- EasternMarketDC.com and EasternMarket.net -- updated to reflect the post-fire differences in how everything's operating, so expect to see some changes at both in the next few days.

This seems as good a time as any to remind everyone of our own “Where are the merchants now?” page! It'll remain linked at the top of the left-hand sidebar, and we're doing everything we can to keep up-to-date with information about which of the South Hall merchants are operating outside, what they're stocking, when they'll be there, and what forms of payment they're accepting. Please spread the page's address around to your friends and family -- it's http://www.saveeasternmarket.org/merchants -- and encourage everyone to come visit!

The Flea Market website also has a new version of the exhibitor map which reflects the configuration of the Hine schoolyard now that the East Hall construction has begun.

Finally, at 10:30 AM Sunday morning, Councilmember Tommy Wells will be celebrating the reopening of eight of the South Hall merchants at an event at the Market and will accept the $46,000 contribution being made by DC United to the CHCF relief fund. Victor McFarlane and William Chang, both managing partners of DC United, and Kevin Payne, president and CEO of the organization, will make the presentation -- it's an immensely generous contribution on the part of the team! (We've added the event to the calendar.)

I just received the list of what'll be available this weekend at the Eastern Market Grocery stand, which remains under the shed on Seventh Street:

• four-cheese ravioli
• spinach and cheese ravioli
• mushroom ravioli
• butternut squash and goat cheese ravioli
• basil and goat cheese ravioli
• artichoke spinach and pine nuts ravioli
• tomato basil smoked mozzarella ravioli
• potato gnocchi
• cheese tortellini
• mushroom tortellone
• cheese raviolini
• egg fettuccine
• whole wheat fettuccine
• spinach fettuccine
• egg tagliatelle
• egg linguine
• egg buccatini
• egg fusili
• pesto sauce
• marinara sauce
• pink vodka sauce
• hommus
• roasted red pepper hommus
• basil hommus
• pita bread and whole wheat pita

They'll be there today from 3 to 6 PM, tomorrow from 7 AM to 5 PM, and Sunday from 9 AM to 3 PM. Go get your fresh pasta fix!

Flickr pic by Everett Mar

Looks like it'll be a slightly cooler, but rain-threatened, day out at the Market -- don't let that stop you from going to pick up your staples and check out the flea market!

The EMCAC folks have published a bunch of interesting conceptual documents from the architects responsible for the restoration of the South Hall, including information about the proposed reinstallation of the skylight that once ran the length of the Market roof, ideas about exterior and interior lighting changes, and glimpses of how the basement will be restored to provide space for Eastern Market Pottery and merchant food storage. We've grabbed all four of the documents and stored them here in the library:

• Introduction and photos
• Roof and skylight restoration
• Exterior lighting, site alterations, and window/door restoration
• Interior lighting, HVAC, and basement plans

Two other documents we've added to the library are the postcard and poster ads developed to bring business back to the Market; as we mentioned on Thursday, these ads were developed by the folks over at Edge Advertising, who've been working overtime since well before the fire to help the Market keep up its public face.

On Friday, Dennis L. Rubin was sworn in as the new DC Fire and EMS chief inside the Market's North Hall, which was a nice symbolic way to show the dedication of the fire department to the protection of the Hill's crown jewel, and a great way to highlight how well he served the city during both the Market and Georgetown Public Library fires.

We received word tonight from Nicky Cymrot that CHCF hopes to have new “Eastern Market is open!” tote bags available at their table on Seventh Street this weekend. They, like the T-shirts, will be $20, and all proceeds will go back into CHCF's relief fund for the Market merchants. We've heard from Linsey Silver that they're almost completely sold out of T-shirts at this point, so the new bags seem like a good -- and needed -- new item to help get the Market merchants back on their feet.

As promised this past weekend, DC United's managing partners presented a check for their contribution to the CHCF relief fund, but generously rounded up the $43,000 amount raised at the game to an even $50,000. That's awesome, the sort of thing that should make all of us in the Eastern Market community members proud that United calls the Hill home.

In a more intimate fundraising effort, CHCF passed along the info that the first grade class at Watkins Elementary School held a bake sale and raised another $310 for the Market, and sold an additional $300 in T-shirts as well. Great job, kids!

Finally, there's an event, named “An Eastern Market Celebration”, that'll be held at the National Building Museum two weeks from tonight, June 26th from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. Our Councilmember, Tommy Wells, will be giving the opening remarks of the event, which will highlight both the history of the Market and the role it serves to the surrounding community. It's on the calendar!

Just a quick note that there's going to be a special Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee meeting this Thursday, June 14th at 7 PM; it'll take place at the Old Naval Hospital at 10th Street SE and Pennsylvania. The sole item on the agenda is the discussion of a report by EMCAC's Capital Improvements Subcommittee which responds to some of the changes proposed by the architects in charge of the restoration since the fire -- the report is available in the document library here (in PDF format).

Just a heads-up that Shannon and I are taking a four-day break from DC, so things here will be a little quiet. I'll certainly have enough access to post anything that come up if people email the info to us, and knowing my habits, I'll trawl the usual news sources and try to put a note or two up over the weekend as well, but just wanted to give everyone fair warning!

In the mean time, enjoy this short bit from The Post about how kind our Market's Mel Inman is to his customers -- it's that kind of treatment that keeps us all pushing as hard as possible to get the merchants all back into the regular swing of things.

We're back from our vacation, and are a little bit bummed that we don't have our regular staple of weekend Market food to help us out for our meals this week! We can't wait until the East Hall is up and running.

DC Foodies, the weblog covering all things food-related in the DC area, announced last week that they'll be donating their June ad sales to the CHCF Eastern Market relief fund. That's awesome, a great gesture from a group of food lovers to the people who've worked hard to provide fresh food staples to the Hill for decades!

The American Legion Post Number 8 (at 3rd and D Streets SE) will be hosting an Eastern Market fundraiser next Wednesday, June 27th, from 5 PM to 8 PM. Music will be provided by Charles Wellborn, complementary food will be provided, and there will be a cash bar; they're suggesting a donation of $50 or more to attend, and money raised will go to the CHCF relief fund. It's on the calendar!

Judy Jashinski, a Capitol Hill resident and artist with works in, among other places, DC's own National Gallery of Art and National Museum of Women in the Arts, is having an art sale, with 50% of all proceeds benefitting the CHCF fund. For more info on Jashinski, visit her home page, and give thought towards decorating your home or office while also supporting the Market.

Gary Peterson sent an update out on the CHCF efforts to help the Market merchants; this past weekend saw another $3,000 in sales of T-shirts and the new tote bags, and they're looking for volunteers to staff the booth on Seventh Street for the next two weekends. This weekend specifically, they need two people from 2 to 4 PM on Saturday, and on Sunday, they need two people from 12 to 2 PM and one person from 2 to 4 PM. If you can help, drop Gary Peterson a line!

We also want to send a big “welcome back!” to Eliza, the Market's Australian supporter who's visiting DC and took a few pix around Seventh Street this weekend. Sorry we were out of town, or we'd have met you at Tunny's for a cold one!

Finally, we've been remiss in not keeping people up to date on the construction of the East Hall. While I didn't take any pictures tonight, it looks like they're almost ready for the foundation -- the plumbing is all in place and they've backfilled around half of it, so I'd imagine that we're pretty close to seeing concrete!

We’ve recently heard from a vendor in the Open Air Market Farmers Line who reminded us that they are also suffering from the downturn in business at the market, and asking us to help get the word out that they are still open for business on the weekends!

Heidi and Steve Adams, who run the Sweet Nuthouse sent us the following:

There are about 22 merchants who form this group and we would greatly welcome any help that you could give us in getting the word out that we have been relocated but not gone. Our situation is somewhat different because some of us were merchants under the shed, and others, like us, were set up along the side of the building, and others along the corner of 7th and C Sts. When the chain link fence was put up along the perimeter of the building, we were moved to the “pedestrian street” along 7th.

Heidi and Steve make an excellent point – the Open Air Farmers Line vendors have had their locations shuffled around due to the fire damage and to accommodate the inside merchants that are now operating al fresco. Their spaces have been in a constant state of flux and they’ve been informed by Market management that more farmers will be added soon.

To help their customers, the Farmers Line vendors are planning to have a map of their layout finalized by 8:30 a.m. on weekend days to distribute to visitors and regular customers alike. The list of the Farmers Line vendors that are currently at the market every weekend year round, rain or shine, is included at the bottom of this post.

All of the businesses at and around the Market – the inside merchants, the Farmers Line vendors, the flea market, and the businesses on Market Row – have been hurt by the fire, so do your best to patronize all your old favorites even if you have to do a little searching for their stalls each weekend!

Open Air Farmers Line
Agora Farms
Blue Iris Flowers
Blue Ridge Dairy Company
Carlton Frye Flowers
Claymont Farm
Pretzels & Lemonade
David & Louise Morgal Fruits & Vegetables
David Fowler Farm Grown Fruits & Vegetables
Epicurean Soap Company
Gardners Gourmet
Jefferson Greenhouses
Jessie Dunham Fresh Fruits & Vegetables
Knopp Farms
La Provencale Cellars
Ma Brown's Homemade Baked Goods
Micha's Sorbet
Remie Flowers
Sweet Nuthouse-Specialty Glazed Nuts & Pralines
Teresa Bowie Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Uncle Brotha - Hot Sauce

Shannon and I are literally itching for a weekend we're not out of town and away from the Market -- this weekend was spent in New York, alas. But we're fortunate to have great friends on the Hill who accommodated our small list of needs into their trip to the Market today, and who were kind enough to leave the food in our fridge! So there'll be fresh pasta and sauce for us this week, something that makes us both happy.

The Examiner had a brief article yesterday which was scarily titled “Eastern Market vendors relocation in limbo” -- but fortunately, the contents of the article are way less frightening. The gist of the piece is that a few of the merchants had a July 4th East Hall opening date in their minds, but we've now known for a few weeks that it'll likely be more like the end of July before we see an indoor building with all the merchants back in business. The article also gives voice to a few people's belief that there's no way, given the current state of the Hine lot, that the building will be done that soon -- but remember, the building is a tensile fabric skin stretched over a steel frame, all of which can be erected in a matter of days once the foundation is in place. So we're hopeful that we're looking at an East Hall somewhere around a month from now!

Voice of the Hill put up an online article last week covering the special June 14th EMCAC meeting regarding the South Hall restoration plans, and there are a bunch of interesting points that appear to have come out of that meeting. EMCAC seems to be landing squarely on the side of making as few changes to the historic structure as possible; the committee recommended:

• a roof restoration that does not include skylights;
• handicap-accessible entrances only on the western side of the building, preserving the entrances on the eastern side as-is; and
• less restrooms than the current plans propose, both because they feel the number was miscalculated and to allow for better access between the North and South Hall buildings.

The plans are now before the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and also require the approval of the city's Historic Preservation Board before the restoration can begin in earnest.

The Observer had an article today about a general reduction in federal money coming into the District via earmarks; the piece mentioned, though, that Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton asked for $131,000 for the restoration of Eastern Market, which is around 55% of her total earmark amount.

Sorry for the long delay -- I'm now back in a busy-as-heck period at work, and things got a little behind. With that said...

The Express noted yesterday that business looks to be picking up a bit outside the Market -- while business is undoubtedly lower than it was this time last year, it's better than it's been over the past month, and that's good news indeed. The article really only looks at the former South Hall merchants, though; I honestly don't know whether the flea market and farmers' line vendors are seeing more customers right now.

The Post also had a Market-related article yesterday, this one about the fact that Eastern Market Pottery is still looking for space to practice their craft, and that as a result, their supplies of pottery are now starting to dwindle pretty severely.

Gary Peterson passed on another of his fabulous updates on all things Market-related this week; he mentioned that the East Hall looks good for an opening by the first of August, and that the structure itself is on schedule for delivery on July 12th and erection over the next four days. All the equipment that'll be used by the merchants inside the new East Hall has been ordered and is on schedule for delivery -- the DC government is still working out whether that equipment will end up being owned by the city or the merchants, and if we hear more about that, we'll certainly pass on the info.

Finally, the Capitol Hill Community Foundation is starting to think about ideas for having an after-hours fundraiser in the new East Hall sometime after it opens, and is looking for input from the community about whether there'd be interest in attending such a function for anywhere from $50 to $100 a person. If you have a perspective to share with CHCF, I'm sure Gary Peterson would love to hear it -- you can drop him a line at pgarylaw@aol.com.