Marketplace Opens In Riverfront Park

The Spokane MarketPlace opened its fifth season on Saturday in a new location, drawing faithful regulars and visitors in town for the Bloomsday run.

Dozens of people in Riverfront Park milled about the open-air market, admiring handicrafts for sale, drinking fresh-squeezed juice and buying loaves of just-baked bread and bundles of locally grown asparagus.

The market will likely stay at its new location on the north end of the Howard Street Bridge in Riverfront Park until the end of the season in October, said marketplace director Jackie Rappe.

“I think it’s really nice. It’s cleaner and more scenic,” said vendor Lenny Munguia, who sells “Juan in a Million” salsa at the market.

“I think it’s an asset to Spokane to use this part of the park.”

The market originally operated on a piece of publicly owned property at Riverside Avenue and Division Street, across the street from an adult bookstore.

Last year, the Joint Center for Higher Education evicted the market from the site, contending the popular bazaar had outgrown the location and the state had other plans for the property.

The market pays the city 15 percent of the take to rent the site, Rappe said. In May, that will probably be about $1,000.