It’s almost like déjà vu. The East Side Market looks almost exactly like it did months ago when News 5 checked in late February and some residents say they are losing hope that the market will ever be open.
"Of course I'm a little upset that it isn't open right now," said Jeremiah Perkins, who works across the street from the market, and every day he says he struggles to find healthy lunch choices.
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“I go like this (hands in prayer) and then hopefully somebody like brings me an apple or something,” he said.
The closest place to get the healthy food he’s looking for is more than 10 blocks away.
“If you don’t know anything this area, it’s a kind of like a food desert, so there’s not a lot of places where you can go for fresh produce,” Perkins said.
That's why he’s been anticipating the east side market’s grand opening.
“I believe the East Side Market is essential to this area,” Perkins said.
So where is it? Arthur Fayne, the project developer for the market, says there’s been a myriad of issues.
"We look at the East Side Market and it is a market that is going to have to have some love, some tender loving care, and it was going to take some time,” he said.
The renovated East Side Market, offering fresh fruits and veggies, a coffee shop and even a community room, was said to open spring of 2016.
Then, city council said end of last year. Last we spoke, Councilman Kevin Conwell said it’ll be open this June. But all you’ll see now is dirt, rubble and a few new sewer pipes.
“I’m monitoring and controlling the situation, and I want it to be right,” said Councilman Conwell.
Fayne says in February they were still getting their sub-contractors confirmed. And now they’re working on plumbing and fixing major odor and sewage problems.
“There’s always going to be changes,” said Fayne.
But he says, slowly, it’s coming into focus.
“Sometimes beauty takes time.”
If it doesn’t, Perkins said he thinks the community should take a stand.
“We have to come together as a community and demand. Power concedes nothing without demand. So if they don’t know we want it, we’re not going to get it,” he said.
The developer is now saying the East Side Market will be open and ready to go by late fall or early winter. He did not want to give an exact date.
