HARRISBURG, Pa. — The City of Harrisburg has broken ground on a temporary structure to house Broad Street Market vendors who were displaced by a fire on July 10.
Since the fire ripped through the market’s brick building, displacing about 23 vendors, city and state officials pledged to help the vendors stay in business while the market is rebuilt.
There was talk of moving the shops to the Farm Show Complex, but in the end, vendors decided they wanted to stay as close to the market as possible.
The structure will be located on a grassy area right next to the market on Third and Verbeke Sts. The property is owned by Josh Kesler, operator of the Millworks restaurant.
On Friday, crews worked to level the ground in order to erect a steel-enforced 5,000-square-foot tent. The tent will have electricity, water, heating and cooling.
“This is the type of tent you would see at a campground. This is the type of tent that you would see at a major golf tournament or a military mess hall. This is a large tent,” said Matt Maisel, Harrisburg’s communications director.
The tent’s $400,000 price tag will be covered by insurance, Maisel said.
Some of the displaced vendors have been operating in the market’s courtyard. Officials said the structure was necessary, however, for the vendors to continue selling once the weather starts turning colder.
“This is strictly temporary, but it is a necessary temporary for everyone involved,” Maisel said.
Though technically temporary, the tent is expected to remain in place for at least two years, which is the amount of time expected to rebuild the market’s brick building.
The tent is expected to arrive next week and take up to a few weeks to assemble and move in equipment. It will then be open on regular market days of Thursday, Friday and Saturday.