The CNY Regional Market will seek $90 million from the state to correct “massive infrastructure failure” at the facility that houses a popular farmers market, officials said.

“We are at a point where we’re experiencing massive infrastructure failure, and our wholesale facilities were designed and built for wholesale in the 1930s,” market executive director Amanda Vitale said. “Outside of just the infrastructure this makes some of our space unusable.”

The administration building for the CNY Regional Market is currently undergoing repairs that was funded by the market. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)

Vitale has been working with the New York Farm Bureau to obtain the funds to make repairs to the property that was built on swamp land.  

“When you’re talking about things underground, the settling never stops,” she said. “We’re also experiencing deterioration of the steel which is leading to deterioration of the brick.”

During a summer day, a market vendor chats with customers. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)

In the late 1990s, the market, which operates without  state aid, underwent restoration with the New York State Historic Preservation Office but the issues resurfaced.  

“We had to keep all the work in the same manner that it was done in the ‘30s,” Vitale said. “We ended up with the same construction practices that were not viable.”  

They repaired the brickwork by hand but didn’t repair the root of the problem underground.  

“A lot of it just really comes down to things were done differently in the ‘30s,” she said.  

Vitale said the market is critical to local farmers and the CNY food system.

The stretch of pavilions where nearly 300 vendors set up their shop every Saturday. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)

“With the amount of products that we offer, you’re not only providing products that are necessary for people based on their diet, but you want to make sure that the food we’re providing is serving many different nationalities,” Vitale said.  

Vitale says they can get about 20,000 people through the market on a Saturday. There are approximately 300 vendors that come to the market every weekend. 

Maura Ackerman, executive director of Syracuse-Onondaga Food Systems Alliance, says revitalizing the market is essential.  

“So many farmers get so much of their income from a single day at the market,” Ackerman said.

In addition to the infrastructure challenges, Ackerman said the market will be made more accessible for all customers.