Selection of a Suitable Market Location

If a new retail market were to be built in Cleveland, three groups would be directly concerned with its location: (1) The buyers who come to the market for their supplies; (2) the dealers who sell in the market; and (3) the city, which would be responsible for financing the market and for zoning, planning, maintenance of streets, and other functions. In addition, there are certain other groups interested in the market, including the related retail businesses in downtown Cleveland, the Chamber of Commerce, and the wholesale handlers of food that supply the dealers in the market.

Factors to be Considered in Selecting a Location

Three principal factors should be considered in selecting a location for a retail market to replace Central Market.

Convenience to Buyers

The principal buyers at Central Market were inhabitants of the city, the major part of whom came to the market by public conveyances. A smaller number came by automobile, and a few walked from their residences to the market. The most convenient location for a new central market would be in downtown Cleveland where all streetcars and busses come to a central point, and where there are ample adjacent streets and some assigned areas for parking.

Most streetcars and busses converge into the area adjacent to the Union Railway Station. However, it would be practically impossible to locate a market in this neighborhood because land costs are extremely high and the area is now fully utilized by a great number of businesses, city parks, and memorials. To justify the razing of the buildings in the area for the development of a retail market would be extremely difficult. Neither would it be possible to use the areas devoted to city parks and memorials; as a matter of fact, plans of the city provide for the further development of this area into public parks and parking lots when funds are available. Moreover, this area is congested and seriously lacks parking facilities. For these reasons it is not possible to consider the development of a market at this point.

Another point where public transportation and ample streets and parking areas are available would be an area anywhere from 3 to 10 blocks from the Union Railway Station. One of the central points for public transportation is the Central Market site, but when the proposed new highway is developed, this area will be of lesser importance because many streetcars and busses will be rerouted or no stops will be permitted at this location. About 4 blocks east of the old Central Market location, at East Ninth Street and Bolivar Road, is a concentration of streetcar and bus stops.

Convenience to Market Dealers

Since the dealers operating in the market deliver or receive products by motortruck or other vehicle, it would make very little difference to them where the market is located as long as it can be reached by truck without delay in traffic. Thus, any location that can be reached satisfactorily by buyers would meet the requirements of dealers.

Availability of Land at Reasonable Cost

To develop a market as needed to replace Central Market would require an area of about 312 feet by 200 feet. As mentioned earlier in the discussion of the area in the neighborhood of the Union Railway station, it is doubtful whether the city could justify the acquisition and razing of buildings or the use of existing parks and certain other high-cost areas in the city for the development of a new market. In the selection of a market site in downtown Cleveland, consideration would need to be given to the present use of the tract and to future plans for the particular area in which the market is to be located. City street plans, zoning, and other ordinances also should be given careful consideration. The cost of the land in any site selected will definitely affect the liquidation of the market costs. Since the city is limited in the amount of bonds that may be issued or the amount of money that may be spent, this factor will require that the land costs, when added to other costs in the development of the market, not exceed the $1,000,000 earmarked for this purpose.

In considering the cost of land it is necessary also to consider the cost of razing any existing buildings thereon and the cost of till, grading, and certain other expenditures needed to prepare the site for construction. Therefore, it is necessary to study the proposed sites and evaluate the cost of preparing them for construction before a final determination can be made with respect to land cost.

Suggested Market Sites

In the course of the survey, persons interviewed were asked “Where should the new central market be located”? Two sites were suggested (see fig. 5). Not all areas in the city that might be available for a market site were explored during this survey. The investigation into the availability of sites would have to be made by the city. Only the two sites suggested by dealers and buyers who were interviewed are considered in this report.

Site No. 1, immediately east of Central Market, includes the area bounded by East Fourth Street on the west, Bolivar Road on the north, Eagle Avenue on the south, and the Sheriff Street Market, the Storage Company Warehouse, and the Cleveland Cut Flower Company on the east.

Within this area are a large number of stores, one-floor to two-floors high, housing retail businesses that handle a wide variety of retail products.

Site No. 2 includes the area to the east of the Sheriff Street Market, the Storage Company Warehouse, and the Cleveland Cut Flower Company, extending to East Ninth Street between Bolivar Road and Eagle Avenue. In the latter case it was not contemplated that all the area described would be used, but it was suggested that the new market be located somewhere within this area. For purposes of illustrating the problems relative to the development of the market, only the portion lying east of the Sheriff Street Market and the Storage Company Warehouse to property owned by the Widlar Company, between Bolivar Road and what is known as the ”Rope Walk,” is included. This section of the site was chosen because the part of the area adjacent to East Ninth Street is currently used for parking and service stations, which are badly needed at this point in the city and would be in still greater demand if a new market house were built in this vicinity. The Widlar Company building is adjacent to the parking area. It is a substantial building that would be costly to purchase. Therefore, the market site could not include this building, and the market would have to face either Bolivar Road or East Ninth Street. For patrons coming to the market by means of public transportation systems passing on East Ninth Street, this location would be ideal, but it was found that most of the patrons who visited Central Market came in public conveyances traversing East Fourth Street and Bolivar Road. The selection of this site would require the razing of a number of residential tenements adjacent to the ”Rope Walk” and a few inferior commercial buildings fronting on Bolivar Road. It would be of some advantage for the dealers to be near the cold storage plant now located on East Fourth Street between Bolivar Road and Eagle Avenue.

Recommended Location for the Proposed Retail Market

Since site No. l and site No. 2 are both near the corner of East Fourth Street and Bolivar Road, where most of the patrons visiting the market board or leave public conveyances, and since both sites are adjacent to the cold storage warehouse new used by the dealers, there is no essential difference between the sites as to convenience for buyers and dealers. Thus the determining factor in choosing between them would be which was cheaper. As shown in the following chapter, the cost of acquiring site No. 1 would be more than twice the cost of site No. 2. When the cost of building the market is added, the total cost of site No. 1 is more than the $1,000,000 appropriated for the building of a new market. For this reason the proposed market would have to be developed on site No. 2.

Site No. 2 is near enough to site No. 1 to have the advantage of traffic converging at East Fourth Street and Bolivar Road, and at East Fourth Street and Eagle Avenue. It also is sufficiently near East Ninth Street at Eagle Avenue or Bolivar Road to attract traffic from these two locations. Moreover, for private automobile there is public parking space between Eagle Avenue and Bolivar Road, west of East Ninth street, and also east of East Fourth Street. Site No. 2 lies strategically between these parking lots, which should make it possible for those who use such facilities to stop and buy in a market on site No. 2.

If site No. 2 were developed, it would be possible to place on it all the facilities needed in the market at this time. It might also be possible to expand the facility at a later date toward Eagle Avenue on the property now owned by the Cleveland Trade School. At the time of this study this school planned to relocate, which would make its property available for another purpose. In the development on site No. 2 it would be desirable to close the alley known as Bradley Court. A right-of-way between the proposed market building and the Widlar Company should be maintained in order to have access to the rear of the market building.