The Logan Square Farmers Market will once again be happening this Sunday after a decision to cancel it received widespread backlash.
The Logan Square Chamber of Commerce, which manages the market, said the market is back on in an email Friday morning. The Chamber did not explain why organizers canceled the event and then walked back that decision.
Nilda Esparza, who leads the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce, has not responded to multiple calls on Thursday and Friday.
The market was canceled for the first time in its history as organizers struggled to safely incorporate a slew of unauthorized vendors who’ve set up around the official market.
The weekly event “is taking a pause this coming week as we continue to work on operating in the safest way possible for all to enjoy,” organizers said Wednesday in an email to vendors.
Organizers have cited traffic safety as a main concern about the expanding market, which was started in 2005. An alderman said the decision to close was also because the Chicago Police Department wouldn’t sign off on a permit allowing the market to expand into Logan Boulevard.
Bradford Hathaway, owner of American Pride Microfarm and a regular vendor at the market, said the “rash decision” to cancel the market came as a big shock for him and his fellow sellers.
“This has shown the power of the community, there’s no way they would have gotten away with canceling,” Hathaway said. “You don’t pause farmers markets. It’s rain or shine, baby.”
He was relieved to hear the market was back on but was frustrated by the unneeded stress of possibly missing out on a profitable day for his business.
In a Facebook post, Esparza said, “The closure is necessary.” For the last two weeks, she has suggested ways to reconfigure the market “but we strongly felt our measure was still the safest route,” she wrote.
The beloved market on Logan Boulevard between the Illinois Centennial Monument and Whipple Street has grown in recent years. It’s been so popular that dozens of unlicensed vendors began setting up around the market, many of them to the east, where they sell used items and art.
Hathaway said he hasn’t witnessed or heard about any safety concerns.
“If there was a safety concern, I would know because my customers would tell me. The little old lady who gets there first thing every Sunday to get her greens, she’d tell me. Our regular customers who come every single week, they would let us know if they were worried about safety,” Hathaway said.
The real problem, he said, is the market has expanded too fast beyond its capacity, both because of new official vendors and the “rogue market” of unlicensed sellers.
“The market has been growing, a lot of new vendors have been added to the market and every little corner is being filled without consideration,” Hathaway said. “It’s too big right now, expanding should take more time, planning and consideration.”
Local Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) and Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday the market had been seeking to expand its permit to allow the market to set up on Logan Boulevard between Milwaukee and Sacramento avenues on Sunday mornings to accommodate the unlicensed vendors.
But the Chicago Department of Transportation did not sign off on it, Ramirez-Rosa said.
Market organizers needed approval from La Spata, Ramirez-Rosa, the police department and the Chicago Department of Transportation. If one doesn’t approve, then CDOT won’t OK the permit, Ramirez-Rosa said, and the police department protested against expanding the market’s permit.
Both the market organizers and CPD had safety concerns, said police spokesman Tom Ahern.
“CPD made public safety recommendations to the event organizers that are currently being considered by the event organizers,” Ahern said in a text.
A CDOT spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The Friday email from the chamber of commerce thanked Mayor Brandon Johnson, Ramirez-Rosa, La Spata, CPD and CDOT.
Getting into the Logan Square Farmers Market in 2015 was huge for Hathaway’s business, which offers micro greens and knife sharpening.
“The market gave me an opportunity to grow,” Hathaway said. “That made it a legit business. I went from being part-time and then I got to Logan and it legitimized my business so I could make it full-time.”
He depends on the market every week and missing a day would have meant lost revenue and wasted produce.
When he heard the news about the canceled market, Hathaway said he and other vendors were still planning on setting up on Sunday.
“Those other vendors are showing up every week without insurance, without permits, without business licenses. So we would have shown up anyways and it would have gone off without a hitch,” Hathaway said.
“This market is there because of the community so you can’t punish the vendors and the community for that.”
