Leon Glick
One day, 30-plus years ago, Antonio Palmer got a hankering for sausage with green peppers and onions. His sister drove him to a place he didn’t know. It was called the Broad Street Market. He’s been a regular ever since.
But while food was the first enticement, it’s the people who keep him coming back, whether they’re office workers, city residents or tourists from Oregon or Missouri.
“It’s what they call the ambiance,” he said. “Most people don’t understand, but believe it or not, Broad Street Market is the heart and soul of Harrisburg.”
This is not a story about loss, even though it originates with the July 10 fire that gutted the Broad Street Market’s brick building. This is a story of resilience and dreams of what’s next.
A unified vision is emerging. The market of the future remains steeped in Palmer’s historic ambiance, but—let’s face it—much more modern.
“All these buildings need air conditioning,” Palmer said. “Get rid of those fans. That’s what caused the fire. Air conditioning takes care of everything.”
Resetting
First things first. A temporary market structure, fully equipped with utilities and comparable to a military mess hall in a remote outpost, is expected to house about 16 of the 22 displaced vendors.
The temporary market is meant to allow a seamless transition to the ultimately rebuilt brick building in, it’s hoped, about two years. The fit will be tight, as vendors squeeze into a 50-by-100-foot rectangle.
“A lot of businesses are going to scale back in order to make it work for the whole market,” said Executive Director Tanis Monroy. “A lot of them worked well with each other, and they want their neighbor to succeed.”
Or as Two Brothers BBQ owner Leon Glick put it, “Love grows in tight spaces.”
Some brick-building vendors find the temporary structure unfeasible. Ryan Hummer, from the fifth-generation R.G. Hummer Meats, lovingly tended and grew his stand for 22 years. Its costly refrigerated meat cases can’t be replicated in a temporary setting, he said.
Luckily, he is serving his east shore customers at the West Shore Farmers Market stand he established in Lemoyne about three years ago.
“The best part about Harrisburg and the city, it’s so supportive of the market, the community, and the customers over the years,” Hummer said. “All that support has been a blessing.”
A brief organizational chart here. The city of Harrisburg owns the Broad Street Market buildings and grounds. The Broad Street Market Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit overseeing marketplace activity. Each vendor is an independent business that leases space from the alliance.
Rebuilding is a priority, says Mayor Wanda Williams. While the city concentrates on the physical property, officials add that they are all hands on deck for vendors and their entrepreneurial visions.
“A lot of this is going to be vendors working through their own businesses and soul-searching and figuring out what their best path forward is, but we’re going to be in there,” said city Business Administrator Dan Hartman. “We want to be in there. We want to be part of this in the short term, the near term, and the long term.”
Melissa Barrick
Up from the Ashes
Dreams are filling the space now cluttered with rubble. The brick walls can’t expand beyond the historic footprint, but vendors see efficient design creating room for expansion.
On a bright Saturday morning, 11 colorful tents dotted the market’s courtyard. Melissa Barrick, owner of Veg Out, casually swatted away sweat bees from stacks of peaches as she called the fire heartbreaking but “a chance at rebirth.” In the rebuilt building, she hopes to stock local artisan vinegars, oils and chips alongside her Pennsylvania produce.
“We get to redo the market, redo our stands, and start over and fix some things that might have been ignored,” she said. “It’s an opportunity. It gives us a chance to be better when we come back.”
Lhayana Dallas, owner of Honeybush Raw Smoothie Bar, continues thinking about opening a downtown site, but she remains loyal to the temporary structure and the rebuilt building.
“We always want to have a place in the Broad Street Market,” she said. “It’s my community, where I’ve lived since I came back to Harrisburg from college.”
Latoya Dallas
Dallas sees bigger and better in the rebuilt space. As her sister, Latoya Dallas, put it, “The other space will be easier to navigate, and we’ll have the equipment needed for a small bite menu. It’ll be almost cafe style.”
Don’t forget that the Broad Street Market comprises two distinct buildings, stone and brick, like the two halves of an Almond Joy bar.
“Most people would say the stone building was unaffected by the fire, but in reality, both buildings worked in unison with each other,” said Monroy. “Our stone building is still open. It has businesses with ideas to expand while staying at the market. But right now, they’re putting their focus on the market and the immediate community until we can get back up and running in the brick building.”
The market, he added, “is more than a building. It’s alive and full of stories and community. Just because the brick building is gone right now doesn’t mean all that is gone. It’s still here. The vendors still need your support, and now is the time to rally and unite together.”
Ryan Hummer
Future’s So Bright
The Broad Street Market is often called an oasis in a food desert.
“The market is such a supplier for the local community,” Hummer said. “People walk and ride their bikes. We were the only food hub to get local good stuff.”
As the fire puts the temporary loss of that service in sharp focus, the alliance is strengthening partnerships with community nonprofits “to see how best we could provide market service to those areas and maybe figure out ways to bring that to other areas of Harrisburg,” said Monroy.
City government remains “a great partner,” he added, and neighboring Midtown businesses “have been so supportive. All the businesses know that the market is a staple here, and if the market is blossoming, so is the rest of Midtown.”
Josh Kesler, owner of the Millworks, offered favorable lease terms for the grassy lot conjoining the two properties, where the temporary structure will stand. The offer meant delaying his plans for a beer garden there.
Once the shock diminishes, the work begins to sustain attention and the sense of togetherness that the fire engendered, Kesler said. The opportunity exists for “a huge lift.”
“We need to be mindful that we are custodians of the market for our generation to pass on to the next,” he said. “So, let’s make some really good decisions about what that looks like.”
Barrick heard stories from lifelong customers who, as children, hauled customers’ groceries to their homes, returning with their nickels and dimes to buy hot dogs.
Which raises the question: Could a future market have its own DoorDash-style delivery? Now is the time for the community to pitch their ideas for infusing 19th-century ambiance with 21st-century convenience.
“We are really looking at ways to modernize but keep it historical,” said Assistant Manager Megan Giles. “If people would like us to give them more information for delivery or ordering systems, that’s something we have to look into.”
Glick, of Two Brothers BBQ, endured a total loss. Like Hummer, his stand needs are complex, and his decision to set up in the temporary structure was pending, depending on the layout and his equipment needs. But he is “absolutely” committed to returning to the rebuilt brick building. His business grows yearly, and his regular customers deluged him with calls and texts in the days after the fire.
“I miss Harrisburg, and we love you guys,” he said.
Before the fire, the Broad Street Market was “moving in the right direction” toward upgrades and modernization, said Hummer. He envisions a brick building that looks “basically, as historic as it was—beautiful, redone the way it should be,” and with the HVAC and systems that today’s businesses need.
“That place, even the way it is sitting right now, is still a gem in the city,” he said. “To have a beautiful market—vibrant, alive, with fresh, quality food—could fulfill a lot of the dreams of the city. I know it was a tragedy, which it was for everybody involved, but sometimes from tragedy comes a new path. A better path.”
Next month, TheBurg will publish “Part Two” of this story, focused on the physical rebuild of the historic Broad Street Market and the city’s business development role.
To learn more about the Broad Street Market, including donation opportunities, visit www.broadstreetmarket.org.
Photos by Dani Fresh.
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