Cleveland Public Market Corporation broke ground Monday on the first phase of a $68 million West Side Market renovation.
The project aims to improve day-to-day operations at the market, by addressing faulty infrastructure like elevator failures and electrical outages. Some of the work began in 2024, prior to the official groundbreaking, but larger projects, including a full basement renovation will create space for community building by revamping underused spaces on the property.
"Today marks a pivotal milestone in the market's history as we break ground on the physical improvements that are part of our master plan," Cleveland Public Market Corporation Board President David Abbott said. "When we're done with those, we'll be able to break ground in a new way when we do programming to educate children and families, to create jobs and new businesses, and to reach out into neighborhoods around the city that don't have access to fresh food."
While the City of Cleveland owns the property, Cleveland Public Market Corporation took over leadership of the market in 2024.
The market supports more than 70 small businesses and brings in more than 800,000 visitors each year. But , the market operated at a $700,000 loss with nearly a third of stalls stand vacant.
The renovation will benefit current vendors and attract new ones, Ohio City Pasta Operating Manager Ruby Thomas said.
"The more vendors we have, the better all the vendors do," Thomas said. "With the addition of the prepared food, the teaching kitchen, all of those things, we'll be able to provide a better service to customers"
The renovation reestablishes the market as an asset that reaches far outside of the city, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said, building on other regional projects.
"It's an exciting day for our city and an exciting date for our region, and another example that this is Cleveland's era from our investments at the airport to the work we're doing to transform our neighborhoods," Bibb said. "This is our time and it's gonna take more public private partnerships to keep our momentum possible."
The market will remain open during construction, with volunteers on site to assist with parking and maps inside to help customers locate vendors.