Barrie Council considering new home for Farmers' Market

The Barrie Bus Terminal in Barrie, Ont., on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022 (Steve Mansbridge/CTV News)

Barrie Council is set to meet on Monday night to consider approving a new Farmers' Market downtown.

If approved, the current Farmers' Market at City Hall would be moved to the bus terminal on Maple Avenue. The move would offer access to the Farmer's Market seven days a week.

The Barrie bus terminal would be relocated to Allandale.

The proposition of relocating the Farmers' Market has been in the works for decades.

In March of last year, Barrie Council approved a motion to create the Market Precinct Task Force, a team in charge of the initiative.

Deputy Mayor Barry Ward, chair of the task force, says the location change is ideal with the growing housing developments in the area.

"That's a great thing because those are the people that will support the market every day or every second day," Ward says. "Other people in Barrie might come for once a week."

In addition, there's limited space for existing vendors in City Hall.

"[City Hall] doesn't fit their storage needs, it doesn't fit their size needs, there's no room to expand there, so they'd love to have a new building," Ward explains. "This is the spot where we could put a new location."

Depending on interest from vendors, the task force is considering expanding the building's size during the construction.

Ward says during the summer, it would leave room for additional vendors to set up shop outside.

If approved, construction for the new market would not begin until the transit terminal is relocated to Allandale, which wouldn't be until April or May in 2023. The market wouldn't be ready to open until 2024.