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Marion staffs plan to move Merriam Farmers Market to Willowood Park to ease crowding and add parking
Summary
Parks staff proposed relocating the Merriam Farmers Market from Taube Park to Willowood Park to expand vendor and customer parking, add accessible restrooms and separate vendor and customer vehicle flows; council was supportive and the relocation is planned for the next market season.
Parks staff presented a proposal on Jan. 7 to relocate the Merriam Farmers Market from Taube Park to the parking area at Willowood Park (the pool site) to address crowding and safety concerns.
Drew Mollenauer, park maintenance manager, said Willowood’s large paved lot would allow the city to separate vendor stalls from customer parking, increasing vendor spaces from 33 to about 40 and customer parking from roughly 15–18 to more than 70 spaces, depending on vendor layout. The pool building’s exterior restrooms would replace the current portable restroom arrangement at Taube Park.
Mollenauer said the new layout would not conflict with pool programming on Saturday market days. Council members reacted positively: one called the plan a “great use of largely unused space” that resolves traffic and crowding issues. The relocation is expected to take effect next season.
The presentation did not record any formal action; staff said they will proceed with planning and logistics so the market can operate at Willowood next season.
