Pensacola's Palafox Market could expand to Plaza Ferdinand and add up to 80 new vendors

The popular Palafox Market, held nearly every Saturday in downtown Pensacola, may expand its footprint to Plaza Ferdinand if the city agrees to relax 36-year-old restrictions on the use of the park.

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said his administration is working on an ordinance change that will allow for events like Palafox Market to be held at Plaza Ferdinand for the first time since 1987.

Before a major renovation of the park was completed in 1987, festivals and events were common in Plaza Ferdinand. After a bicentennial festival of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution damaged the grass in the newly renovated park, the City Council made the park a "passive" park by banning any events that would have amplified sound, vendors, booths or stages.

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During his campaign for mayor, Reeves said he was interested in changing the ordinance to allow events like the Palafox Market to be held in the park.

"We want to be place makers," Reeves said. "We want to build a sense of place."

Reeves said the changes to the ordinance are being drafted by the City Attorney's Office, and he hopes to present them to the City Council in February.

"There's a lot of history in that park, but how I would assess it is there's been maybe a little bit of an overreach of restrictive use of that park," Reeves said.

Downtown Improvement Board Executive Director Walker Wilson said that there is a waiting list of 50 vendors waiting to become part of the Palafox Market. The DIB operates and organizes the Palafox Market.

Wilson said any expansion of Palafox Market would work to ensure that the park is not damaged in any way by the event.

"We're trying to make sure that our end that once we do get in there with vendors that we're doing the best we can to keep it up and keep it clean and make sure we're not doing any damage to the park while we're there," Wilson said.

Wilson said the DIB would use revenues from the Palafox Market to go to improve the park, as it has committed to for the current location at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza.

"We'll be able to do something there to make that park even better than it is today," Wilson said.

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If the council approves Reeves' new ordinance, the south Palafox Market will run at the same time as the one north of Garden Street on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wilson said he hopes it will encourage people to walk between the two and perhaps patronize businesses along Palafox Street as well.

Wilson said if the City Council approves the ordinance change, the new market wouldn't open until there is enough vendor interest, but with 50 vendors on the waiting list, he isn't expecting the wait to be too long.

Plaza Ferdinand will be able to accommodate up to 80 vendors during the market.

Reeves said he views the change as a "pilot project" in activating the park and that if the market is causing problems for the park in six months, the ordinance may need to be changed again.

"When I say a pilot project, we've got pent-up demand, this is something that I'm very committed to, but this is going to be our first step towards activating a treasure in our downtown and activating our downtown," Reeves said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola City Council could open Plaza Ferdinand to public events