Lawrence Farmer’s Market seeks a permanent home amid growing challenges
Emma Coffey | @em_coffey
Every Saturday, crowds fill 824 New Hampshire Street in downtown Lawrence, the current home of the Lawrence Farmer’s Market. The market is a place for community members to support local vendors selling homemade products and goods. Behind this thriving market, organizers want to find a more permanent home.
“When we moved to this lot here, it was with the idea that there would be, electricity and lighting and other things like that, and that never has happened,” Emily Lysen, director of development, said. “It limits the types of vendors we have, to not be able to have power access and water access and drainage and things like that.”
Currently, the market resides in two parking lots, but that space is becoming increasingly limited. Instead, organizers are looking for a space with a pavilion to keep attendees protected from the elements, along with having more permanent signage.
“We’re kind of looking for, you know, our little unicorn here in Kansas, in Lawrence, to be able to have something that’s like two acres in downtown, on city property, and a multi-use facility,” Lysen said.
Vendors like Lori Trojan for Wild Ivy Herb Farm, who is also a member of the Steering Committee for the project, say that the farmer’s market is doing more than just providing homemade products for community members, it’s also bringing that community together.
“The community is an integral part because we cannot survive as a market, as vendors, without the community,” Trojan said. “It bridges that gap between you and the people that grow the food, you know, and it’s big.”
Both Trojan and Lysen say that they hope community members take an active role in making their voices heard about where the market location lands.
The Lawrence Farmer’s Market is running every Saturday morning until late November, with plans to have a location finalized by the end of the year.
For more information, or to learn how to get involved, go to the Lawrence Farmer’s Market’s website.
