As the renovation process moves forward, the Eastern Market is reaching yet another critical juncture. This one is possibly legal. Although the North Hall was not damaged by the April fire, there are plans for roof and window work and long overdue upgrades (the North Hall lacks rest rooms, heat, AC and running water) as well as a new dance floor for its tango guests.

Eastern Market Ventures (EMV) the market management team delivered a “quit notice” in mid-November which required Market 5 Gallery run by John Harrod to vacate the premises by January 1. Many in the arts community and supporters of Harrod suspect that the timing of the renovation is serendipitously tied to the long-sought-for, but so far unsuccessful, removal of Market 5 Gallery.

Harrod has operated the Market 5 Gallery for over 27 years and had fashioned a reputation as a strong supporter and incubator of minority arts as a way to make a living.  Harrod was the first to launch the arts and crafts outdoor market which today flourishes as one of the three economic linchpins of the success of Eastern Market.

The Office of Property Management (OPM) is currently involved in finding a space for Harrod to continue operations during the renovations. One proposed site is a trailer placed between the new East Hall structure and the Hine Flea Market.

Others in the community are opposed to Harrod’s being allowed to remain as a tenant of the Eastern Market. He owes back rent, according to EMV, and his lease has expired. Thus, his continued presence creates problems with the issuance and execution of any new RFP for a unified management at the Eastern Market.

When Harrod’s lease expired on December 31, 2006 he did not renew his option, essentially creating the problem of his eviction. He and supporters cite health reasons for his failure to act.

Frustration with Harrod has been expressed repeatedly and forcefully at meetings of the Eastern Market Community Advisory Commission (EMCAC), cresting when its members voted unanimously at its January 2 meeting to request that OPM not allow Market 5 Gallery to continue as a tenant, the thrust of its position being that Market Five has “conducted its business in disregard of a number of the legal obligations required by the Eastern Market legislation and the settlement agreement.”

Offering arguments on Harrod’s behalf is attorney Donald Temple, working pro bono,  who successfully sued the District in 1999 when a previous effort was made to remove Harrod as a tenant. Temple believes that issues of race are involved as well as economics. He points to the fact that the North Hall has not ever held a seat on EMCAC even though the North Hall and Harrod’s work in arts has been a constant presence for over a quarter of a century.

Temple points out that there is a economic motive to removing Market 5 Gallery, adding that it is valuable square footage. Temple, while refusing to commit to legal action, suggests that his previous legal maneuvering gives a hint of possible action: “It is very instructive to read the deposition’s,” Temple says, referring to depositions and declarations which are posted on Market 5’s web site (www. Market5gallery.org) along with a petition campaign launched in the months before Christmas that has nearly 400 signatures.

Temple softened his comments and suggested that while most of the trouble emanated from previous individual EMCAC advisors, “EMCAC today is trying to be fairer.” However, Temple is also critical of Councilmember Tommy Wells role in what Temple describes as the public interest, adding “Wells has signed on to Opper-Weiner (an EMCAC member) and the others.”

The issue of unpaid rent has been discussed at previous EMCAC meetings with Bryan Cook of EMV reporting that Market 5 Gallery is $12,000 in arrears. Matt Hussman, newly appointed Eastern Market Coordinator of OPM responded to queries about the status of the rent as well as its verification with this statement: “I am not able to comment on that. We are looking into the accounts related to the North Hall for EMV.”

Camille Mosley-Pasley, who is the Co-Chair of Market 5 Gallery Board of Directors, insists that the rent is current and has been current and that there are bookkeeping charges by EMV that were inappropriate with one monthly rental that was double charged.

When asked whether Market 5 Gallery was protected if it temporarily abandoned the North Hall for renovation, Mosley- Pasley said: “No. We are going to have to trust we will return.” Asked what Market Five would do if this were a ruse to move them, she added: “We will take steps.”

Temple on the other hand dismissed the idea that the District is engaged in any effort to trick Market 5 into leaving. “We have always been treated fairly by the City” he added, “All this should be done in good faith.”

PPS Community Meeting
A community meeting was held on January 17, at Hine JHS by the Project for Public Space (PPS), a nationally known non profit that consults and advises communities on use of public space markets. Just under 100 members of the community attended on a night of severe weather with competition also coming from the 23 school closing meetings.

After a brief power point presentation by David O’Neil, consultant and marketing guru with over 30 years experience, which laid out both the historical context and current issues facing the Eastern Market, there were a multitude of perspicacious questions ranging from process to parking to updates on restoration to ideas of how to keep the Eastern Market flourishing as well as concerns expressed about the tenancy of the North Hall.

 Currently there is an RFP underway for new and unified market management that PPS is shaping along with guidance from OPM and EMCAC. The PPS report is due in mid February. O’Neil indicated more than once that the current market management has more than a few deficiencies and will likely not return.

O’Neil also pointed that there are not many market management groups and the model of who might make application is wide ranging even as the process is fast moving. O’Neil’s power point was very specific with decision time lines, the process producing a new market management team to be in place at the end of June 2008.

Restoration Progress
According to OPM’s Hussman, the roof, which is under contract at $1.4 million , is “50% complete” and well on its way to meeting its April deadline. An additional $900,000 has been added to the cost which is now estimated at $2.6 million. The window sashes have been removed and are being worked on by The Craftsmen Group at an estimated cost of $600,000.

Bids on the final phase of the restoration have been submitted. According to Curtis Clay of OPM there have been five bids which are under consideration ranging from $11.5 to $7.5 million with the “lowest qualified bid” being the one likely selected. Forney Enterprises which has submitted a bid of $8.1 million contributed $2500 to the Fenty campaign in 2005-06. In addition a new team of architects, Hartman-Cox, have been added to the project making it unclear the future role of current architects QuinEvans. Hussman reports that one bid has been rejected with “the other is being given due diligence” with a decision due in February.

The principal concern of EMCAC is whether those bidding have the proper qualifications in their portfolios. This question has been repeatedly raised by members of EMCAC reflecting their concern that chief among their charges as an advisory board is that all work on the restoration project be done by contractors who competent to renovate the Eastern Market, a nationally registered historic building. These concerns were heightened when the Temple Group, a construction management company, was selected for the project in November by former OPM Director Lars Etzkorn because “they had time left on a previous contract.” EMCAC was not consulted in this decision, though such consultation is required by law.

On October 2, 2007, Allen Lew, the newly appointed school facilities czar, fired the Temple Group on his first day on the job in a firm display that accountability matters. The press release reads: “The message we are sending to the construction community is that it is no longer business as usual.” Temple Group had been the construction management team at the Hardy Middle School project which, on the day of being let go, was 12 months behind in the work and $12 million over budget.

When asked at the January 17 community meeting about the choice of Temple Group to be the construction management team, the  newly appointed Interim Director of OPM, Robin-Eve Jaspers was unaware of their firing. Queried about the Lew’s actions and the Temple Group’s subsequently being named the construction management team for the final stage of the Eastern Market restoration, Jaspers said : “I didn’t know that. I will have to investigate that.”

Councilmember Tommy Wells who has a great deal of political capitol invested in the success of the Eastern Market restoration, said of the Temple Group: “I have some concerns about the Temple Group triggered partially by their performance at the Hardy Middle School and I will follow the process closely.”

Business Level
With temperatures on weekends in the 30s during the month of January, it was not surprising that most of the arts and crafts vendors were reporting that business on the closed 7th St was slow.

Diane Freeman who has set up her Norays Hand Painted Merchandise stall in the North Hall for over 20 years concurred that business is down. Freeman, bundled to ward off the cold for her 10 hour day, worries that with the rumors of the threatened closing of the North Hall “ I wouldn’t be able to do any business.” Freeman reports that in a recent meeting with Interim Director of OPM, Robin Eve Jaspers, she was told by Jaspers that OPM does not “need to  close the North Hall right now.”  

Eli Byler of Timber Wood Creations hails from Amish country and was in his second week at the Market. Byler thinks business is “pretty good for the weather” as his bonnet headed daughter Betty, red nose and ice cold hands, smiled and shivered nearby. Byler says he came to Eastern Market because “I’ve heard Capitol Hill is a friendly neighborhood.” His sassafras wood furniture is selling well as were the homemade pies that his wife baked, but that he has now been asked not to sell, with sales of $520 his first week and “over $1000 today.” Byler travels over 600 miles to be at the Market for Saturday with his religion precluding a presence on Sunday.

East Hall merchants agree that business is robust. Union Meats reports that the holiday business was 90% of the previous year. Jorge Canales of Canales Deli says that they are “busy,” but remains adamant that the closed street with no parking plan is hurting business. “We are not here to entertain,” he adds. “This is what we do for a living. There is no parking on weekends.” Jenny Glasgow of Fine Sweet Shoppe says that she remains surprised by the strong January business adding that usually in January her customers are on diets, but not this year if sales are a measure. Glasgow also thinks that the well-lit East Hall adds to her sales because her bakery goods are better displayed and “it looks cleaner in here.”  

Other Announcements
The City Council with the help of David Catania has voted $100,000 in funding in its’08 budget to the Capitol Hill Community Foundation to be used early in 2009 for assisting in the transition of the East Hall merchants back to the restored South Hall.

Some of the murals that cover the burned-out windows, which were commissioned by the DC Arts and Humanities Commission, have been taken down as the window work goes forward. These murals, which depict market life, will be returned to cover the windows once the new ones are installed, and will remain in place till the South Hall reopens.

Click on the website www.opm.dc.gov and watch the live webcam of work that is being done to restore the Eastern Market. Its current focus is the roof.