Save Eastern Market

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.