Norwich Farmers Market will relocate to a new, year-round location, according to Norwich Farmers Market board president Leslie O’Hara. Vendors, customers and directors discussed the market’s plans for a year-round facility with improved parking capacity.
Currently, the market operates in two locations. In the summer, it is located outdoors at 281 Route 5 South in Norwich and is accessible to Dartmouth students via bus. In the winter, the market moves into an indoor space in Tracy Hall, located in Norwich, which is frequently unavailable and not accessible by bus from the college, according to O’Hara.
On Jan. 27, the Upper Valley Agricultural Association — a non-profit that advocates for Upper Valley farmers — purchased 35 acres of land off of Route 5. The association plans to use part of the land to develop the market’s new facility.
UVAA president Peggy Allen said the parking situation at the market’s current summer location is “disastrous,” adding that the market needed more “elbow room.”
“We don’t need to make the market much, much bigger, but we need a little more room,” Allen said.
Allen added that the market faced an even “bigger challenge” with parking and rental availability at the Tracy Hall winter market.
“[Tracy Hall] isn’t very big, there’s terrible parking and the farmer’s market doesn’t have any control over the calendar,” Allen said.
According to Allen, the UVAA overcame a “big hurdle” by purchasing the site, but construction on the new market facility will not begin until the UVAA raises another $4.7 million.
Suzanne Long — whose farm, Luna Bleu, has been a vendor at the farmer’s market since 1989 — said the market has “outgrown” its current space.
“Just having a secure space that gives everyone a little bit more room enables vendors to more easily set their booth up and customers to more easily be at the market,” Long said.
Long added that a lack of parking space and the market’s current location have caused issues for some customers.
“A lot of our older customers — long-term customers — have stopped coming because the parking’s too disorderly,” Long said. “Hopefully having a little bit more space will make it not feel as chaotic.”
O’Hara said the new facility will be larger and have “thoroughly maintained” driveways with “better parking.”
“We’ll have a big year-round facility … much more accessible to anyone and everyone,” O’Hara said. “It’ll be better taken care of and … easier to maintain.”
Vendor Daisy Hebb, however, said she had “concerns” about the new location for the market being in a wetland region with “high biodiversity.”
“It’s a high-risk, heavily-threatened ecosystem type that is not easily replaced,” Hebb said.
O’Hara said the project was being implemented “very carefully” to avoid issues related to the wetland environment. She added that “change creates conflict no matter how you do it.”
“It’s going to be different, … but I think overall it’s going to be an awesome opportunity for us as a market as a whole,” O’Hara said.
Long said the community of vendors at the market “has always been supportive,” even as the market has changed and grown.
“People will help each other out if someone gets stuck or if someone's coming in late,” Long said. “It’s a really strong community.”
Ishaani Agarwal ’29 said she liked the current space because of its “cozy vibe,” but added that the move to a larger location would benefit vendors.
“I feel like if they move it to a bigger location, it’s going to give more people access to an opportunity to be able to sell the stuff that they’re making,” Agarwal said.
Agarwal said she had a “really fun” experience visiting the market with her friends in the fall.
“We got there, and there were a bunch of stalls with fresh food, and we had the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever,” Agarwal said.
