'It's just time': Port Huron farmers market leaving Vantage Point next year

The city of Port Huron is in the process of taking over the weekly farmers market that’s long been held at Vantage Point.

And that means residents have only a couple of chances to enjoy the weekly market at the riverfront spot on Desmond Landing — and the nearby Maritime Center — before the season ends later this month.

While city officials will take the reins of operations for a market at a new location next year, the Maritime Center itself is closing for good.

Acheson Ventures owns Desmond Landing with both the market and center, privately operating both for close to two decades, though the property along the St. Clair River has also technically been listed for sale for several years.

Now, months after the death of AV’s namesake and philanthropic founder Jim Acheson, Mike DeLong, their vice president of operations, said they’re passing one baton on running the market and letting go of another.

“Eighteen years. We’re celebrating, actually. It’s not a bad thing. We’re just shifting gears because we couldn’t do it forever. This is just a transition,” DeLong said Wednesday. “The Maritime Center will be closed and not reopening in the spring. We always closed for the winter, but we have made another decision. Out attendance is way down. We’re getting six, eight people a day all summer. The Saturday market was a feeder into the Maritime Center, where we had more people. But without the market, it’s hard to keep the Maritime Center open.”

How will the market transition work?

The board for Port Huron’s Downtown Development Authority discussed the farmers market during a meeting on Tuesday.

City Manager James Freed said the city and its DDA taking over operations was a final move, though other details are less concrete, and DDA Director Natacha Hayden said the transition itself is still in the preliminary details.

“If anything, my only concern is making sure that the public knows where the new location is, and they have plenty of access to come and continue to shop. I truly believe that the farmers market is an asset for our community,” Hayden said Wednesday. “Just talking to Acheson Ventures folks, they tell us how they see about 1,000 people every weekend just coming to the market and shopping there.

“So, making sure that the market continues (and) has a good spot that can not only accommodate the farmers but the people that come to shop is incredibly important. And selfishly, I would love to see that 1,000 people come to downtown Port Huron on a weekly basis. Not only come for the produce but stay for everything else we do offer.”

DeLong said there were two locations they were looking at that the market could move to, adding it was important to them that it remain downtown.

“We’ll be working all winter with the city. Because we have five different programs with the state and various agencies that is a benefit of about $80,000 worth of free vegetables to the community, (like) Senior (Project) Fresh and bridge cards and such, so we don’t want that not to happen," DeLong said.

“We’ve been trying to do this with different entities for years,” he said. “It’s been up and running for 18 years. We’ve had it, and most markets in the state are run by municipalities. Not private owners.”

Freed said they’re likely moving it to an area near Kiefer Park, such as the old Bard Street, a connection that was closed as a roadway between Chase Bank and the St. Clair County Courthouse.

“We’ll move the tents to a location for next season, but our long-term goal is to build an actual permanent farmers market structure,” he said.

The administrator expected more official agreements and decisions to come over the next couple of months.

What's next for the Maritime Center, Acheson property?

Meanwhile, there were no immediate plans for the Great Lakes Maritime Center, which frequently shares information on freighters and boats to those who stop inside to watch them pass, nor the Demond Landing property itself.

“We’re talking to some people, but nothing to report,” DeLong said, later adding it wasn’t uncommon to show the property to interested buyers or developers. “It’s just time.”

It was announced on its Facebook this week that the center would be closed Sunday and reopening Thursday, Oct. 26, for its final week.

DeLong said they’re hosting a private event for volunteers, who’ve been integral to manning the center each season. At about 35 to 40 individuals, he said they’ve always been “volunteer strong.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: 'It's just time': Port Huron farmers market leaving Vantage Point next year