Wednesday is market day, but Renee Williams can't move hundreds of pounds of product to her West Side Market stall.
“I have six, five gallon buckets of pickles sitting at home in my cold garage, because I couldn’t bring them to work because I can’t get them up to my cooler,” she said.
The only freight elevator that’s been functional for months gave out Wednesday, leaving dozens of West Side Market vendors like Williams stranded. While some worked to move their product up two flights of stairs by hand, others had to refuse delivery trucks or even close up shop for the day.
The elevator's failure is just the latest in ongoing infrastructure problems at the multi-stalled, indoor/outdoor market on the city’s Near West Side. As the more than century old building continues to age, business owners are putting more pressure on City Hall to make capital improvements.
“If they kept maintenance up over the last several decades, we wouldn’t be scrambling now,” Williams said. “But here’s where we are now, and at this point it’s affecting hundreds of people.”
Mayor Justin Bibb promises changes are coming. In his final round of federal pandemic relief fund spending plans, he unveiled a proposal to invest $20 million in the city-owned market as they transition to nonprofit leadership to pay for a prepared food hall and improved plumbing, heating and air conditioning. After negotiations with council leadership, he dropped his ask to $15 million.
Still, some council members are standing in the way, saying the money could instead go to other city neighborhoods.
“All Cleveland neighborhoods need investment, even the areas people from suburbs don't visit once a month to play city,” Ward 17’s Charles Slife tweeted last week in reference to the market proposal.
“No one is trying to take away from any neighborhoods,” said third-generation butcher Amanda Chucray. “Council is looking at this market as just Ohio City’s responsibility… but this is everybody’s market. I have just as many East Side customers as I do West Side customers as I do suburban customers.”
As the legislation awaits council’s decision, Bibb took to social media Wednesday to point to the broken elevators as support for his proposal.
The @WestSideMarket is in desperate need of infrastructure upgrades. Bandaid fixes aren’t working anymore. That’s why we are asking @CleCityCouncil to pass our $15 million #ARPA proposal to fund basic repairs. https://t.co/WWvnFfJ5uI
— Justin M. Bibb (@JustinMBibb) April 26, 2023
“The city is the landlord,” Chucray said. “It’s the city’s responsibility to maintain these things, and they have not been, and we finally have the opportunity to do something with these federal funds.”
She said the fate of businesses at the market, including her 63-year-old Czuchraj Meats, is in the city’s hands.
“Honestly, if we don’t get these funds, I don’t know how much longer this place can survive,” she said, citing plumbing issues and the leaky roof. “It’s been pretty bad.”
Chucray isn’t the only one worried about her livelihood being at stake. Williams said business owners may not have the time for the political debate to play out.
“This is a whole lot of blood, sweat, tears, time, history invested, and I would hope not to have to walk away from my business because of bureaucratic red tape,” Williams said.
