Roanoke Market Building kiosks are OUTTA there. UPDATED with artist’s renderings
Update: Here are the artist’s renderings of what the new designs will look like. Sketches by Clark-Nexsen are courtesy of Roanoke City Market Building director Sara Guerry. Click each image to make it larger.
-
- New seating area with planters.
-
- The planters can be rolled away and the seating area transformed into an acoustic stage for live dinner music.
-
- These small kitchens will replace two small areas currently used for common-area seating.
Click “Read More” to see the press release that explains this change in full detail.
This just in from Roanoke City Market Building Director Sara Guerry:
###Roanoke, VA– The Market Building Foundation, Inc. and Hall Associates, Inc. are pleased to announce a new plan for the first floor common area of the City Market Building. The four retail ‘kiosk’ spaces on the first floor will be removed and replaced with flexible seating/ stage modules that will also include live trees and shrubs.
Designed by Roanoke design firm Clark- Nexsen, these changes will add much needed vibrancy and life to the building. Additionally, they will open up the floor space for seating and traffic flow, as well as add an opportunity for live acoustic music during the lunch and dinner hours.
In addition to changing the kiosks into seating and staging, two more kitchens will be added on the Market St. side to increase dining options as well as recoup the rental that the kiosk spaces were intended to generate. These kitchens will be smaller than the original eight and will be more geared toward small fare with the potential for walkup grab-and-go service from the outside doors.
While the Board has approved moving forward with this project, the final plans and permits still need to be put into place before construction begins. Doug Waters, Market Building Foundation, Inc. Board Chairman, said, “We have worked hard to realize the vision that our architects and several previous planners had for the center of the Market Building, but have
concluded that what looks good in a drawing does not always work so well in real life. With our planned changes, we believe that the lively heart of the Market Building will be unleashed at the same time we expand the array of cuisines and retail that our patrons are enjoying.” ###
So, what do you guys think? Do you like this idea better than the kiosks?
May 3, 2012 - 10:19 AM
RSS feed 
Great move! While the kiosks were a great idea, they were not aesthetically pleasing and detracted from the new area. Very happy with this change and hope that it works in the building’s favor!
That’s a start, much better.
I ate at the new market building last Saturday evening. It’s the first time I have visited since the renovation. I have to admit I was disappointed. There were fewer eateries, no vendors or retailers and way too many seating areas. Even though the meal I had was great (I had chicken salad and soup at the Firefly? – not sure if that name is correct)I won’t be likely to return.
Yes I like this idea better. The kiosks seemed awkward in my visits there.
Here’s a suggestion…Sushi from the folks sho do sushi at Fresh Market!! I know they are independant contractors so somehting like that seems like a viable option especially in the downtown area.
Yes, since no one was using the kiosks. They were just wasted space.
@Lynda K, maybe you will think about going back after they have made these changes. It will probably really improve the look of the space and make it more inviting.
How can you justify renovating a space that is less than a year old. This is horrible management. Even worse is the sweetheart deal where taxpayers paid for Councilman Dave Trinkle’s pizza oven. Of course they will say Hall and Associates paid for it, but who paid them? TAXPAYERS!
Ask the other merchants in the building.
The changes are definitely going to add some much needed warmth to the inside – right now, it seems so sterile. I love the idea of plants of any type inside, but it will also offer a way for the City to promote other events.
I am sure there will be alot of musicians that will be happy for the opportunity – especially during a “happy hour”.
A improvement. A nice foutain would be nice. Right now it is cold and sterile like a hospital cafeteria. Acturally hospital cafeteria looks better. Liked it much better before. What a waste of our taxpayers money!!
James and Chris:
I talked to Roger Elkin, a leasing agent for the market building, and he said this project has been funded by tax credits from private parties, with the exception of an economic development loan that has since been repaid. He said tax credits are not the same as taxpayers’ dollars, and the continued improvements will also be funded by tax credits.
Also according to Elkins: Each vendor was allowed a certain dollar amount for improvements to his or her space. If the improvements they wanted went over the cap, they were responsible for funding the additional amount themselves. Fork in the Market and Habana Cafe had a $32,000 cap based on the amount of space they leased. Both went over the cap and paid for it themselves.
As I said, they would justify it. I don’t know how a member of City Council uses taxpayer dollars for his private business while also failing to pay the taxes he voted for.
Does Roger Elkin have a statement about ethics?
James, just to be sure everybody knows what you’re talking about, I’m posting some links to previous articles:
http://www.roanoke.com/politics/wb/253962
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/301507
Having worked on some of the design of the interior of the market building (and not being a fan of it) I can only say:
“I told you so!”
I Wish they had just kept the nice dark interiors, and ZORBA!
Who wants to eat lunch in a hospital cafeteria??
LyndaK when was the last time you visited the Market Building before this trip? As a downtown worker I can tell you the market is much better now. For one, it’s much cleaner and there are more and better food choices. Several large spaces were empty prior to the decision to renovate and there were health code violations do the age of the building.
As for these changes, I think it’s great. Those stalls in the middle were not a good idea. They were pretty much unusable. The one vendor that tried couldn’t even find a place to hang merchandise. But they tried and it didn’t work. Better to change it now than to live with it becuase they don’t want to upset anyone.
James do you even live in Roanoke City? Just curious why you’re so bitter.
What a boondoggle. DTR is determined to do the same to the farmer’s market. Pitiful.
Good call James. Someone’s got to go! No conflict there at all. Nope.
This is what happens when beaurecrats get into the real estate business with other peoples money (yours and mine). The design was terrible from the start and anyone with business accumen knew it. $6.5 million for 8 food stalls and a third floor meeting space (tht is seldom rented? With respect to Mr. Elkins, the building was not paid for with tax credits. A portion of the building was paid for with historic tax credits, but it was less than 45%. Bottom line is the City and the group operating the building spent way too much on an over and poorly designed building, and city tax payers DID foot a portion of the bill….the biggest portion.
The Market Building is still a work in progress. Through no fault of the vendors, it’s taken a while for the restaurants to get up to full speed. The old setup worked well for many years, but was allowed to deteriorate. Now we have a new, and in many ways better, layout that has been open less than a year. To think that it would just pop up and be 100% from the start is naive. Given a little time, I expect Roanokers to enjoy this version of the Market Building just as much we did the old one. Kudos to the foundation for not insisting on keeping a concept that was not working.
There are not more choices as suggested. There are only 8 choices. No seafood, no Chico, no Zorba, no candies and sweets, no sushi, no salad bar; and two of the current eight basically serve the same menu….bar food available in other locations in Roanoke (Fork and Allsports). Yes it’s clean. It should be for $6.5m. And Mr. Trinkle has a right to operate there just as anyone else does. To insinuate otherwise is off base and misses the point. There is no law against selling pricy yet very ordinary bar food.
I can only imagine that this is a plus, since those spaces were just sitting there empty! They def looked out of place. I’ve been so disappointed w/ the new version of this bldg! I’ve been several times and have not found anything I like there! Have tried several of the new restaurants and it’s just not there for me. I still like Hong Kong but don’t really go there for Asian food. And All Sports is good but I have them here in Salem. So I’ve just quit going there. Oh do I miss El Paridisio!!! (SP?)
Original Greg… When I lived in OSW I would walk to the Market 4-5 times a month. I guess the last time I was there was probably a few weeks before it closed for renovation. I loved Burger in the Square, Red Coyote, the sweets and candy place (can’t remember the name) and the retail shops that were there.
I didn’t even mind the dark, old feeling of the place. Having lived in bigger cities than Roanoke, you find some of the best hang-out spots are in places like that! It seems so sterile now.
I’ll try again once the new renovations are completed.
Nobody gave a fat-rats-patootie about the market building until the Gotrocks plunked their multi-million dollar museum in the backyard.
This is all politics, and sorry ones at that. I never thought I’d say it, but bring back Darlene Burcham.
Arts comments are simply not accurate. It was under Burcham that the rennovation/development plan for the building was launched, along with the STRONG financial committment of the city to the Art Museum. It was Ms. Burcham who took on the Market Building literally in her first month on the job in Roanoke. The current city manager simply inherited the problem along with her debt, her alienation of the residents and business community, her alienation of the surrounding local governments, and the remnants of a handpicked staff whose main qualification was being able to repeat “Yes Ms. Burcham” on cue. And this current city council endorsed every piece of it without question.
We are all entitled to our own opinion. Mine is that the changes have been great. Judging by the crowds at lunch, so does most everyone else that works downtown. And if you don’t like it, there are plenty of other places to eat downtown!
Original Greg, Since when do you have to be a city resident to eat at the market building and have an opinion regarding it?
James is spot on and that is apparently what has you in a “bitter” attack mode.