Anyone who has lived in a city with a covered farmer's market facility knows how important they are to a community. I saw this firsthand at Washington, D.C.'s Eastern Market, where permanent booths sold cheese, fish, meat and vegetables. On Sundays the grounds outside the south hall were crawling with merchants selling art, crafts and anything else you could imagine. It was lively, fun and a boon to the community.In Florence there stands (correct me if I'm wrong) the finest of all examples of this, the Mercato Centrale, pictured above. Some in Columbia are fixing to replicate this phenomenon on the grounds of the Columbia Farmer's Market. It's called the Farmers Market Pavilion, and the big kickoff is Saturday, July 26th. Fundraising is under way, but when finished the pavilion will offer
a resource available to the entire community. Built through a public/private partnership, it will continue to house the Columbia Farmers Market and be programmed by Columbia Parks & Recreation whenever the market is not in session.
