Portland Saturday Market
Encyclopedia
Arts and crafts
Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" and "the rest"...
market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. It is the largest continuously operated outdoor market in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is held every Saturday and Sunday from February 28 to December 24, at the junction of SW Ankeny and the Naito Parkway located under the west end of the Burnside Bridge
Burnside Bridge
The Burnside Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.-Design:Including approaches, the Burnside has a total length of and a center span. While lowered this span is normally above the river. The deck is made of concrete, which contributes to its being one of...
stretching as far as Ankeny Park. The market's hours of operations are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m on Sundays, and admission is free. The market is accessible by foot, bicycle, and TriMet
TriMet
TriMet, more formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon...
's MAX Light Rail line which stops within the market at the Skidmore Fountain stop
Skidmore Fountain (MAX station)
The Skidmore Fountain station is a light rail station on the MAX Blue and Red lines in Portland, Oregon. It is the sixth stop eastbound on the Eastside MAX. It originally served the Yellow Line from 2004 and 2009 until its relocation to the Portland Transit Mall.The station has side platforms built...
beside Skidmore Fountain
Skidmore Fountain
The Skidmore Fountain is a historic fountain in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was dedicated September 22, 1888, in memory of Stephen G. Skidmore and partly financed by his will. It was designed by sculptor Olin Levi Warner for $18,000, all of which was donated...
. In addition, the market has a Festival of the Last Minute, which runs daily until Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
. The market has over 400 members and generates an estimated $8 million in gross sales annually. It has become a central economic engine for the historic Old Town Chinatown
Old Town Chinatown, Portland, Oregon
Old Town Chinatown is a neighborhood in the Northwest section of Portland, Oregon. The Willamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from the Lloyd District and the Kerns and Buckman neighborhoods...
neighborhood, and attracts an estimated 750,000 visitors to this area each year.
History
Eugene Saturday Market
The Eugene Saturday Market is an outdoor craft market in Eugene, Oregon. It is the oldest weekly open-air crafts market in the United States. It has a festival atmosphere that includes live performers as well craft booths and food vendors. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people visit the market every...
in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
. It was founded as a mutual benefit corporation
Mutual organization
A mutual, mutual organization, or mutual society is an organization based on the principle of mutuality. Unlike a true cooperative, members usually do not contribute to the capital of the company by direct investment, but derive their right to profits and votes through their customer relationship...
, under which all members would share in the cost and governance of the market, yet keep all profits they receive from selling their items. All items sold at the Saturday Market are required to be handmade by the person selling it, and a committee of members judge each new item against a minimum standard of quality.
Location
The group did not have a location for the market, until Bill NaitoBill Naito
William Sumio Naito , better known as Bill Naito, was a noted businessman, civic leader and philanthropist in Portland, Oregon, U.S...
offered them a parking lot known as the "Butterfly lot". A large butterfly mural hangs over the market today commemorating the past. For the first year that the market operated, there was no specific site plan. A clear site plan was eventually created, marking out 8 x 8 foot booth
Food booth
A food booth is generally a temporary structure used to prepare and sell food to the general public, usually where large groups of people are situated outdoors in a park, at a parade, near a stadium or otherwise...
spaces, defining aisles and a pattern for customer traffic. The market moved to its current site under the Burnside Bridge in 1976, and began operating on Sundays the following year.
Proposed permanent location
In April, 2005, the Portland Development CommissionPortland Development Commission
The Portland Development Commission is the urban renewal agency created by the city of Portland, Oregon. It promotes development, housing projects and economic development within the city's eleven urban renewal districts....
and Portland Saturday Market began a study of potential sites that serve as a permanent location for the Saturday Market. Currently, it exists on a patchwork of short-term lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
s with private property owners, providing little or no long-term certainty. The current situation deters capital investment due to a lack in of mid-week activities on the site, and reinforces adverse social conditions, creating an unsafe area within the neighborhood along with the additional burden of weekly cleaning of the site before Market use. The long-range major goals for the Market include: a permanent location, improved infrastructure, and more protection from the weather, needing to met in a cost efficient manner.
In October 2005, the city launched its own study called the Ankeny/Burnside Development Framework Project, to assess the opportunities for the area and how best to direct public funding increase private investment. The results of the study will be used to formulate recommendations for the area as a whole. Recognizing the diversity of the neighborhood, including the residents, businesses, service providers, retail, and cultural amenities, district leaders seek to energize the area seven days a week, instead of just the weekend, by creating a "market district".
Expansion
A $10–13 million expansion into Tom McCall Waterfront ParkTom McCall Waterfront Park
Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located on the west bank of the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon. It is , comprising 16 tax lots owned by the City of Portland....
, which includes a pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
, will be in use in addition to their already established locations. The intention is that Waterfront Park will lease the pavilion to the market on the weekends during the market season, while also leasing the area for other projects during the week. The older locations will be closed when the pavilion opens to make room for redevelopment
Redevelopment
Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses.-Description:Variations on redevelopment include:* Urban infill on vacant parcels that have no existing activity but were previously developed, especially on Brownfield land, such as the redevelopment of an industrial site...
. The project is being overseen by the development commission, who had recently concluded a three year study on possible permanent locations. Also under the project's umbrella is an accommodation for the Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a global aid agency engaged in transitional environments that have experienced some sort of shock: natural disaster, economic collapse, or conflict. People working for it move as quickly as possible from bringing in food and supplies to enabling people to rebuild their economy with...
, and a refurbishment of the White Stag building.