West Side Market Timeline: In an urban gem, tug-of-war
between city and vendors lasts 100 years
Published: Sunday, May 27, 2012, 5:59 AM
By Debbi Snook, The Plain Dealer
View full sizeEven indoors, market stands back in 1915 were simple affairs.(Michael
Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University)
West Side Market is a big property with a big impact on the city it serves. At 100 years old,
it also needs a big investment to keep it going. Here’s a historical timeline of the market, its
ups and downs.
The timeline below overs the entire life of the market to date, with events and historical
pictures. You can use it several ways. Click the "Next" and "Prev" buttons to move along the
timeline (preferred), or click a green bar on the timeline to jump ahead. You can doubleclick the timeline or click the + button above it to zoom in on a period of time. Click on the button to zoom out.
1868
The city builds Pearl Street Market, a wooden, one-story, kerosene-lit building across from the present-day West Side
Market. It's smaller than the 1867 Central Market at Ontario Street and Woodland and Broadway avenues. Fruit and
vegetable vendors line the streets outside.
1872
The Plain Dealer suggests the busy Central and Pearl Street markets, which operate on alternating days, should open
every day.
1891
Privately held Sheriff Street Market, crowned by an iron-and-glass dome, opens at East Fourth Street (formerly
Sheriff) between Bolivar and Huron roads.
1901
Cleveland booms; Mayor Tom Johnson appoints a commission to create a new, grander West Side Market.
1902
A site is selected at the northeast corner of Pearl (today's West 25th Street) and Lorain streets, accessible via single
trolley fare from all parts of the city.
1903
City Council considers adding a laundry, bathhouse and 5,000-seat public amphitheater to the new market plans.
1905
W. Dominick Benes and Benjamin S. Hubbell are hired as architects (they later design the Cleveland Museum of Art).
Another architect sues over the choice, demanding competitive bidding. Construction is delayed for several months.
1908
The city struggles to get enough steel, causing more delays. State poultry inspectors raid the Pearl Street Market and
dump 2,000 pounds of spoiled meat.
1909
Construction begins. Bills start coming in faster than money can be raised. The city considers selling the Pearl Street
Market land to pay for the new market's roof.
1910
The city issues $150,000 in bonds for construction. The cost is criticized. The city considers selling a cemetery to
continue construction. Bathhouse plans are scuttled, along with the amphitheater.
1911
City council takes $20,000 from a river-widening fund to finish construction.
1912
The new $730,000 market house is dedicated by Mayor Newton D. Baker on Nov. 2. Golden brick ceilings arch over
100 stalls inside. A 137-foot-high clock tower includes its own water tank. Ammonia-cooled lockers are believed to be
the first city-owned cold storage in the country. There are no leases for vendors, giving the city full eviction rights. No
tenant is permitted more than one stand, to stir competition. There are no phones or deliveries from the stands, to
increase foot traffic.
1913
Attendance triples, with 75,000 people a week
visiting the West Side, Central and Broadway markets.
1914
The produce arcade with a 153-vendor capacity opens outdoors.
1915
United West Side Market Tenants Association forms.
1916
The market manager suggests enclosing the produce arcade.
1917
The city-owned East Side Market, with 150 stalls, opens at 10309 Euclid Ave. The West Side Market attendance rises
to about 2 million per year.
1924
The city admits building the West Side Market was unnecessarily expensive and wants the market to be financially
self-supporting. Outside, some 1,000 additional vendors spill across the sidewalks. The city's market manager again
recommends enclosing the produce arcade.
1929
The Northern Ohio Food Terminal opens on Woodland Avenue, taking much of the wholesale business away from the
city's markets. Competition grows from supermarkets and chains.
1932
Vendors consider staying open five days a week instead of three.
1930s
The Works Progress Administration assists in painting and repairing the city-owned markets.
1937
West Side Market merchants ask the city for a new $100,000 refrigeration system. Grocers across Cleveland consider
closing as early as 8 p.m. on Saturdays.
1939
The city approves a $40,000 market rehab project.
1941
The East Side Market moves to 1981 East 105th St.
1943
Shortages and rationing are common during the World War II era. There's panic buying of meat, cheese and butter.
Extra police, on foot and horseback, are assigned to the markets. The West Side Market's metal water tower is
scrapped for the war effort. (It is unlikely that there was panic buying of horseradish, however.)
1946
Voters pass a $1.35 million bond issue for improvements to the Central and West Side markets.
1948
The city approves $100,000 for a parking lot behind the market (Mayor Ralph Perk delivers a speech there some
years later). Officials consider enclosing the outdoor produce arcade.
1949
Central Market burns to the ground. Some hint at suspicious origins, but nothing is ever proven. A Plain Dealer
editorial asks whether public markets are still needed .
1950
The city subsidizes West Side Market operations and makes plans for new refrigeration. Vendor rents rise 150 percent
over the next few years.
1952
Mayor Thomas A. Burke opposes selling the market, saying a sale would spell the end of the market and the
neighborhood.
1953
Market vendors and the city spend $1.15 million modernizing, including "automatic" refrigeration. Vendors agree to a
series of three annual 20 percent rent hikes. The city sees profit from market rent but still feels the push to sell it. The
market sees about 4 million visitors a year.
1954
The hand-wound clock in the tower is automated.
1966
The East Side Market closes after the Hough Riots.
1973
The West Side Market is designated a National Historic Landmark. The city pays for $5 million in renovations.
1975
Mayor Ralph J. Perk proposes an 8 percent rent hike for vendors, but the council disagrees. Picture is from 1969
campaign rally.
1980
The city, subsidizing the market $115,000 a year, raises rent 33 percent, the first increase since 1971, and sues some
vendors for not signing new leases. The first of eight annual Sundays at the Market, featuring local chefs, draws
40,000 people.
1981
Eight stands are still being run by families of original owners.
1982
The market marks its 70th year with a 70-foot-long sub sandwich, polka music and a speech by Mayor George
Voinovich. The clock tower is illuminated by spotlight, joining the Terminal Tower in the night skyline.
1984
The market is still subsidized by the city. Outside vendors still use kerosene burners in the cold. The city raises rent 25
percent, the first hike since 1980. There are chronic reports of dirty scales, rotting produce in the street and an
unused $125,000 trash compactor.
1985
A basement fire from a careless cigarette smoker closes the market for a d
1987
The city begins a $1.6 million renovation and continues to subsidize the market, contributing $420,000. Vendor rents
double. A Plain Dealer editorial suggests adding extra business days.
1988
The city sells $913,700 in bonds to repair the clock tower, cupola and windows, and clean exterior stone. It still says
more repairs are needed. The city threatens to evict vendors who don't agree to new rent. Vendors say they are
hurting from supermarket competition and a bad growing season. The Central Market is razed for the Gateway
Project. A smaller East Side Market opens in Glenville.
1990
Vendors ask the city to continue the subsidy. The economy bubbles in Ohio City.
1992
The city spends $97,000 to correct violations and adhere to sanitary codes.
1996
A national public-markets conference organizer hails the market as a true, competitive market — not just a tourist site
— one of the last of its kind.
1997
Tenants ask the city to finish promised capital improvements, including new refrigeration units and cooler doors, and
new sewer mains.
1998
Mayor Michael R. White proposes a $1 parking fee, but merchants gather 15,000 signatures of protest.
2000
The city agrees to $7 million in rehab, including enclosure of the produce arcade, which was until then shielded from
the elements only by curtains. Mayor White's tiered rent structure is shot down by merchants.
2007
The New East Side Market closes. Cleveland spends $3 million for 100 new refrigerated display cases, which many
vendors find unmanageable.
2008
The West Side Market is named, with New York's Central Park and Santa Monica Beach, one of "10 Great Public
Spaces in America" by the American Planning Association.
2009
The city raises vendor rents after $4.6 million in improvements, including new basement coolers for meat sellers.
Vendors ask the city to lease out indoor banners for advertisements to raise revenue rather than raise rent, which
would force vendors to increase food prices.
2010
Cleveland-born entertainer Drew Carey, in a series of webcasts to remake Cleveland, criticizes the city for owning the
market, saying it subsidizes for-profit vendors. Ohio City Near West Development Corp. (now Ohio City Inc.) plans to
make the market the centerpiece of a Market District, featuring an international array of food shops and restaurants.
The Travel Channel features the market. The Food Network's magazine calls it the country's "Best Food Lover's
Market." Google hits for the market zoom among Ohioans.
2011
A report authorized by Mayor Frank Jackson calls for a more reliable schedule, more parking, consistently good
produce, $3 million in repairs and a plan for the market to support itself. Cleveland snags the 2012 Public Markets
Conference, beating out London, Toronto, Seattle and Charleston, S.C. Ohio City Inc. (formerly Ohio City Near West
Side Development Corp.) is given the right to promote the market. It identifies $700,000 in potential private
donations to publicize and upgrade the market.
2012
The West Side Market turns 100 years old.