MSR Design
Madison Public Market mezzanine view
A rendering shows the view from the mezzanine of the proposed Madison Public Market.
For vendors who have been waiting years for the Madison Public Market to become a reality, there was a feeling of deja vu as the city council — once again — considered increasing the project’s budget by millions to keep it afloat.
“Y’all, I ain’t getting no younger. It’s just a struggle to keep hearing this,” Carmell Jackson told alders at the Oct. 17 council meeting. Jackson, who owns and operates Melly Mell’s Catering, was approved for the market — more than three years ago. “It’s time to bring us all together. Stop talking about it, be about it.”
After about two hours of public testimony and council debate, the council voted 15-3 to approve a compromise proposal from Alds. Marsha Rummel and Amani Latimer Burris authorizing $1.64 million in new borrowing for the now-$23.6 million project, to be located in the city’s former Fleet Services building on North First Street. The amendment to the city’s capital budget allows the market to move forward ahead of an Oct. 24 deadline to act on construction bids. Some features of the market will have to be scuttled though, including some new windows and garage doors. The measure also calls for an anticipated $1 million in funding from Dane County.
“We have an opportunity to create culture in Madison like we did with Overture Center and Garver Feed Mill,” Latimer Burris said ahead of her vote. “We are empowering [the public market] to go forward after 15 years.”
Alds. Jael Currie and Derek Field, who represent east-side districts, and south-side Ald. Isadore Knox, voted against the new funding. None spoke directly against the proposal.
The funding proposal also directs the city to enter into a contract with Joe Daniels Construction, which submitted the lowest bid for the project. Madison Public Market Foundation board member James Shulkin tells Isthmus in an email that the project can now break ground and begin construction before the end of the year.
All three bids to build the market came in millions of dollars higher than what the city had budgeted for the project, even after making cutbacks to planned features. “That is the sole reason we’re here tonight,” said Matt Mikolajewski, director of the city’s Economic Development Division.
Those high bids put the future of the project in limbo once again, even though operating and lease agreements between the Madison Public Market Foundation and the city were approved in July and more than 1,000 people attended an open house at the site last month.
Last summer, rising construction costs due to inflation caused the project to miss out on a $3.4 million federal grant, creating a $5.2 million shortfall. Alders eventually plugged that gap too. The project had been shovel-ready in 2020, with a targeted opening date in late 2021, but the coronavirus pandemic threw city expenses into disarray, delaying the project.
But now, Shulkin can see the finish line. “This is the final necessary step towards making the market a reality,” he says.
After construction, the Madison Public Market Foundation will operate the facility as an independent nonprofit, with no ongoing contributions from the city toward operating costs. Other vendors approved for the public market so far are Caracas Empanadas y Más, Little Tibet, El Sabor de Puebla and Perfect Imperfections. Remaining vendors will be selected as the market is built.
After all the delays and false starts, Jackson told alders that she could not wait to finally get started in the new space, now on track to open in early summer 2025. “The thing about Madison is, if it’s good, they’re gonna come. You could be in the middle of Truax Field, on the landing strip. If you put a good building there with good food and good people, people come.”
