Cleveland will hand over the West Side Market’s keys to a nonprofit manager in 2024.

Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration hopes the transition will be a turning point for the market, which has failed to break even in recent years. And while the handover will mean new leadership at the historic Ohio City anchor, the incoming head of the new nonprofit said she wants the West Side Market to still feel like the West Side Market. 

That means keeping the market humming along – from taking care of vendors’ needs to taking out the trash, Rosemary Mudry, the executive director of the Cleveland Public Market Corporation, told Signal Cleveland. She also wants to find ways to make new visitors feel at home in the market. 

“In one way, the excitement of visiting for the first time is you do feel like you’re stepping into this world that is, sort of, if you’re in the know, you’re in the know, and you’re in the cool club,” Mudry said. “But that’s also really intimidating.”

Over the next few months, the city and the nonprofit will finish negotiations on a 10-year operating agreement. The two parties are working out nuts-and-bolts issues like insurance coverage, according to Dave Abbott, the president of the new nonprofit’s board. 

The nonprofit is also hiring for positions managing the market’s finances, marketing, operations and leasing. Jessica Trivisonno, Bibb’s point person for the West Side Market, said the five current city staff at the market have jobs waiting for them elsewhere in Cleveland government.

The market’s incoming leaders would like to expand its offerings in the coming years. There are plans to obtain a liquor license, create an event space and refresh the north arcade with tables and chairs for customers.

“I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times I have wished for a place to sit down when I’m eating a bratwurst and having something to drink, and I put it on a trash can,” Abbott said.

West Side Market ownership remains the same

Cleveland will retain ownership of the property, and the city won’t be getting the West Side Market’s operations off its books just yet. Once a contract is signed, Cleveland will give the nonprofit $200,000 to seed the transition. 

The market makes its money from vendor rents. But the income hasn’t been enough to keep up with expenses in the last several years. Cleveland City Council could be asked to continue subsidizing the market to the tune of about $700,000 a year while capital improvements are made.

The Bibb administration also plans to ask council for $10 million for market repairs next year – an expense the council president indicated he supports. 

Nonprofit management could also unlock other money such as tax credits, Trivisonno has said. The Cleveland Public Market Corporation also plans to bring home philanthropic money. Abbott, the former leader of the George Gund Foundation, said he believes donors could be wooed to give to the West Side Market. 

“We’ve been out talking to people preliminarily, and there is a lot of interest in the market,” he said. “Because people love the market. It’s such an iconic Cleveland institution.”