$3 million market fire ‘a terrible loss’

by SUSAN MANN

St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market vendor Donna Reist has a message for the owners of the market’s buildings: rebuild the burned out facility quickly because she wants to “come home.”

Reist, who operates Hilltop Acres Poultry Products Inc. with her parents, Don and Karen, was one of 60 indoor vendors who lost equipment, such as tables, knives, slicers, coolers and freezers, after fire gutted the 16,000 square foot wooden building overnight on Monday. Located in St. Jacobs, 20 minutes north of Kitchener, the market attracts more than one million visitors annually and has more than 400 vendors, including the 60 indoor ones. The rest are outside vendors. The fire didn’t damage the building housing OLEX (Ontario Livestock Exchange), located about 25 feet from the one where the indoor market vendors operated.

Marcus Shantz, president of Mercedes Corp., owners of the market’s buildings, says their big goal is to get the market back up and running. To that end, the outdoor portion of the market will be operating Thursday, a regular market day.

Shantz says they don’t have a report from the Fire Marshal’s office yet so the fire’s cause isn’t known. The market management is still working out how much damage the fire caused but they’re estimating replacement costs will be more than $3 million.

The building destroyed by fire was constructed in 1986, while the market “was in operation for many years before that,” he notes. The vendors came mainly from the Kitchener-Waterloo area, while others came from other parts of Ontario. “At this time of year there would be a lot of Niagara people out,” he says.

Premier and Agriculture Minister Kathleen Wynne called the market’s destruction a terrible loss for Waterloo Region. “Since the 1970s, the market has played such an important role within the community and contributes greatly to the local economy,” she says by email.

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food spokesman Mark Cripps says by email ministry staff has been on site and are in contact with the market operators and Woolwich Country representatives “to determine how the province can best assist.”

The market normally operates Thursday and Saturday year round along with Tuesdays in the summer. “Shantz says their “main focus is getting what we can open, operational and running” including the outdoor market and the undamaged other building, which is also about 16,000 square feet.

The owners plan to rebuild the structure that was destroyed but haven’t focused on that yet because they’ve been concentrating on getting open again “and getting a temporary home for all those vendors who lost their place of business,” Shantz explains. “Once that’s sorted out we’ll get around to planning for something new.”

Mark Reusser, Ontario Federation of Agriculture director for Dufferin, Waterloo, Wellington, says for the outside market vendors “things will be as normal, although I suspect there may be the possibility of a decrease in traffic because the indoor vendors aren’t there.”

He described the market as a landmark and “a big draw” for local, provincial and worldwide visitors. “People come to see that market.”

He says he shops at the market. “It has one of the greatest displays of Ontario produce you’ll ever find, especially from July until October or November.”

Reist loves everything about the market – the amazing customers that come from the local area around St. Jacobs along with Hamilton, Burlington plus the Greater Toronto Area, the other vendors, the joking around, and the fast-paced atmosphere. “I’ll miss it dearly and I can’t wait for it to be open again.”

Reist says she knows the market management team is working diligently to get the market back up again and they plan to return once it’s rebuilt. For Hilltop Acres, they can’t be at an outside location because health rules stipulate they must have coolers and washing areas.

Reusser says indoor vendors who are able “will try to set up outside.”

Larry Witzel, president of OLEX, says they’re grateful the fire department was able save the structure containing the main livestock auction facility and peddler’s village. “We’re operating today (Tuesday) and it will be business as usual for Ontario Livestock Exchange.”

He adds that thankfully there weren’t any animals injured or killed in the fire. “We’re pretty grateful for all of that.”

But “we realize how the farmers’ market affects a lot of lives and employees,” he notes.

Losing the market building that had the inside vendors is a huge blow and “it’s a shock,” says Reist, whose family have been vendors at the market for about 40 years and are one of the original vendors. The market is a “major portion of our business,” she notes.

Reist says she was feeding horses on Monday morning at her parents Bloomingdale-area farm when a staff member sent a text message about the fire. “From there I called home” and asked them to check it out. She then called her sister and they went to the market “to take a look at what was going on.”

Even though the Reists can’t return to the market yet, customers can still buy their products at their farm store located on Don and Karen’s farm in Bloomingdale, just outside of Kitchener-Waterloo. In addition to poultry, the store has ground beef, fish, honey, maple syrup, canned goods from local Mennonites, and in season, good quality produce. Everything that was available at the market will be at the farm store along with some additional items. The farm store is open Wednesdays noon to 6 p.m., Thursdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“I’ve got seven staff members and I’d like to see people come to the farm store and keep them all working,” she says.

Reist says the farmers’ market is a big part of the St. Jacobs and Kitchener-Waterloo communities. One of their staff members checked on Google news Monday and the only news item topping the market fire story was the developments involving Syria. BF