The McCollumn - 7/9/10

Last week's McCollumn, as promised.

Movin' the Market

Ah, Opelika in the summer.

While the Southern heat and humidity can be a bit much at times, the activities and goings-on that occur in our sleepy little town during the summer months are usually of the highest caliber.

While the Summer Swing concert series is a close second in my book, the best summer activity in Opelika is the Downtown Farmers’ Market on Tuesday afternoons.

The Farmers’ Market is a great boon for our downtown life and I am always delighted to see the tents being set up each Tuesday, knowing that fresh produce and delectable peach ice cream will soon be near.

The market is booming as evidenced by the seemingly endless amount of cars making their way downtown around 2 p.m. each Tuesday.

I love the Farmers’ Market. I want to be very clear about that.

However, the popularity and rise of the afternoon market is causing some problems that need to be addressed immediately and swiftly.

Since the market takes up an entire side of parking on South Railroad for the vendors’ booths, finding a decent spot in the mid to late afternoon is darn near impossible these days.

Even earlier in the morning, some South Railroad businesses are seeing a decrease in clientele on Tuesdays throughout the day, as the tents usually pop up in the parking spaces a little before lunch time.

While the market is going on, the once one-way only South Railroad Avenue becomes a free-for-all with cars going down the remaining open road however they please.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve left the Cottage Café after a day’s work and almost been hit by some whackadoo driving the wrong way.

It will only be so long before such an accident actually does occur.

A stricter enforcement of traffic laws would help alleviate this problem, but it isn’t necessarily the best solution.

Move the market back down to the old train depot.

The original reason for moving it from that location, if memory serves me correctly, was to boost the notoriety of the market, and that mission has long since been accomplished.

People definitely know the market is here.

The depot offers more space than the current location and frees up more parking for visitors to the market.

It also increases foot traffic on that end of South Railroad, and I know my good friends who own businesses there would be delighted by that.

If changing the venue back to the depot makes some weary or has them worrying that folks may come to downtown expecting the tents in their normal spot, rest assured that the downtown community will make sure the patrons get to where they need to be.

If need be, I’ll even volunteer my services as a downtown liaison, standing in front of the Cottage Café encouraging all passers-by to head down to the depot for all their homegrown produce needs.

Perhaps try it for a week.

Make the move and see what happens.

If it fails, move the tents back.

If it succeeds, huzzah for us all.

Let’s just do something.

Inaction will only lead to more problems.