Project will include new and renovated vendor sheds, a new restroom building, and new parking lots.

On April 5, the Kalamazoo City Commission approved bids and $4.2 million of Capital Improvement Project bond funding for an improvement project to renovate the Kalamazoo Farmers Market. Construction is expected to begin in late April and take approximately a year to complete.

The project will add new vendor space on the Market’s western edge and renovate the existing vendor sheds. A new restroom and office building will be built, more than doubling the number of restroom facilities and adding a family restroom. A performance stage will also be added to expand the Market’s entertainment options. 

As part of the project, Bank Street will be realigned at the intersection with Lake Street. This will create additional room for parking on the north side of the market, and parking areas will be paved on both sides of the Market. 

The Kalamazoo River Valley Trail will also be connected to the Market. It will be extended from where it currently ends at the south end of Upjohn Park along Lake Street to Bank Street. The trail will continue south through the Market and along Reed Court. New bike racks will also be installed at the market. 

“The Farmers Market is such a beloved asset in our community,” noted Sean Fletcher, Parks & Recreation Director for the City of Kalamazoo, “and with this investment we can really realize its potential and offer our community an even better experience with more vendors, more entertainment, more local goods, and more opportunities for local growers and makers.” 

While this project is underway, the Farmers Market will temporarily relocate to Mayors’ Riverfront Park (251 Mills Street) for the 2021 market season. Signs will be installed at the Bank Street site advising shoppers of this temporary change. 

In addition to funding from the City’s Capital Improvement Project, the project was also awarded $2.2 million by the Foundation for Excellence. Additional funding was provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and Consumers Energy.

Planning is underway to add a playground and event building at the Market in the future. 

“We appreciate the community support that this project has received, and the flexibility of market-goers and vendors this year. We’re excited to see you at Mayors’ Riverfront Park this year, and at an even better Bank Street Market in 2022.”

Image Kalamazoo Farmers Market Rendering 1 (4.32 MB)

Image Kalamazoo Farmers Market Rendering 2 (674 KB)

The Spring/Summer 2021 View from the Curb is now available for city residents. The View from the Curb is published twice a year and delivered by mail to city residents to share news and information about residential services. This edition includes information on the Spring Clean-Up, bulk trash & brush collection, street sweeping, recycling, hydrant flushing, and many other services. For the first time, the View from the Curb is also available in Spanish.

You can browse the View from the Curb and download a pdf below. 

Download View from the Curb  Descargar Vista Desde El Bordillo

The City of Kalamazoo is encouraging residents to participate in an upcoming community-wide survey. The National Community Survey (NCS) is a benchmarking survey to evaluate how city government is serving residents, gauge perceptions of the city, and make comparison with peer communities across the country. A sample of households will receive invitations to participate in March and April before the survey opens in late April.

If you receive an invitation to participate or a survey in the mail, please follow the instructions and complete the survey.

If you do not receive a mailing, you can complete the survey online when open participation starts on April 27. A link to the survey will be provided at that time. The online results will be supplementary to the sampled households.

The NCS focuses on livability and resident perspectives about local government services, policies, and management. Scientific survey methods and best practices are used to generate a random sample of 3,000 households in the city. This ensures that the findings are statistically valid. Of sampled households, half will receive a postcard inviting them to participate online. The other half will receive the survey to complete by mail. To ensure the validity of the results, the adult who has most recently had a birthday should complete the survey and any survey links should not be shared. Responses to the NCS are completely anonymous.

The City of Kalamazoo has conducted the NCS at two-year intervals since 2017. The survey findings are an important source of resident feedback and will help to inform budget priorities and program decisions.

“We know that not everyone can make it to a community meeting or connect online,” explained Laura Lam, Deputy City Manager for the City of Kalamazoo,  “and the pandemic has created new challenges for community engagement. The NCS is an opportunity to safely reach out to our community and connect with community members that may not always have their voices heard.”

Reports detailing the survey’s findings will be published in early June. Survey results from prior years are available athttps://www.kalamazoocity.org/surveys.