UPDATE: The Logan Square Farmers Market will take place Sunday, Aug. 27. The Chamber of Commerce reversed its decision.
The Logan Square Farmers Market is canceled Sunday for the first time in its history as organizers struggle to safely incorporate a slew of unauthorized vendors who’ve set up around the official market.
The market “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.
Nilda Esparza, executive director of the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the market, did not respond to multiple calls seeking comment.
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.
“While this is a blow to our vendors, they have been so supportive,” she wrote.
The popular 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.
“It’s really disappointing and frustrating, not only for the vendors who depend on the market for their livelihood, but also for our neighbors who love going to the market every week,” local Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) said.
While he understands the traffic and safety concerns, the market could figure out how to operate safely without closing Sunday, he said. Traffic has been managed responsibly every Sunday, and he hasn’t witnessed any dangerous situations, he said.
La Spata said he has advocated closing the section of Logan Boulevard between Milwaukee and Sacramento avenues on Sunday mornings for both the market and unlicensed vendors.
“I would like to see that decision to close the market reversed, and I hope to see it reversed,” La Spata said. “My office has been working with the Chamber of Commerce, CDOT and CPD to make sure the market is successful in the short and long term, and I don’t think the concerns necessitate closing the market this weekend.”
Market organizers had sought a permit to close 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, said Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) said.
The permitting process has layers of approval, said Ramirez-Rosa, who is zoning committee chair and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s floor leader.
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.
Ramirez-Rosa supports closing Logan Boulevard. “This is the smart, strategic thing to do to address the growth of the farmers market while keeping local residents safe and keeping all the visitors to the farmers market safe,” he said. “We just cannot have vehicles going up and down this portion of Logan Boulevard when there are so many people out there enjoying that public space.”
Earlier in August, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on neighbors who felt the unofficial market had grown too large, endangering pedestrians who were forced to walk in the street. Rumors had swirled that police would ticket the vendors, but Esparza assured vendors that organizers would not resort to that.
On Saturday, Esparza told unofficial vendors that they would be moved from the boulevard site to a “Mega-Monumental Bazaar” location west of Milwaukee Avenue and south of the monument, in an area where organizers had received a permit, she wrote on Facebook.
Esparza said a fence would be placed last Sunday around the existing DIY market due to concerns about traffic safety, security and several trees that had died because of compacted soil.
Earlier this month, Esparza told unlicensed vendors that the market would try to onboard and incorporate them into the official market.
