Category: In the News

The Cap Times has reported on September 28 that City Council member Sabrina Madison has introduced a budget amendment to pay the extra money needed to build the long-awaited Madison Public Market, but her proposal depends on more help from Dane County.

The lowest bid from a contractor to reconstruct the building came in this month at $15.2 million, which is $2.7 million more than originally estimated and about $1.64 million more than the city can spend without additional funding approval. Madison officials cited inflated construction and labor costs as a reason the bids came in higher than expected.

Madison, the alder for District 17, partnered on her funding proposal with Ald. Regina Vidaver of District 5, and their plan would commit nearly $2.3 million in additional city money toward the project to help meet the total estimated costs including construction and furnishings.

An additional $1 million would come from Dane County if approved by the County Board.

If the City Council chooses to move forward with the project, approximately $1.64 million would be enough to fund the original budget for reconstruction. However, to buy furnishings, fixtures and equipment would add another $1.64 million to the project for a total of $3,279,755 beyond the current project budget. Read the Cap Times article Madison Public Market funding proposal increases by $3.3 million. Also, Dean Mosiman of the Wisconsin State Journal wrote an informative article that describes efforts to fully fund the Market following the higher than anticipated construction bids. Madison Council members propose $3.3M for Public Market traces the history of the Market project and provides insight into the current predicament.

We mourn the passing of our friend and former Madison Public Market Foundation board member Leslie Watkins. She died March 5, 2023 at her Madison home surrounded by family and friends after a battle with pancreatic cancer. A Wisconsin State Journal article describes her as “the brightest light in any room”. Leslie was an entrepreneur, marketing expert, community advocate, retail guru and arts impresario. With her stationery store Paperteria, she became one of the first female African American retailers in Downtown Madison. She will be missed by many friends, family and associates.

The Madison Public Market Foundation is pleased to have been named a recipient of a $40,000 grant from the Madison Community Foundation (MCF). Announced on December 28, 2022, MCF offered total of $697,500 in grants to 12 nonprofits throughout the Madison area. The grants address opportunities and support organizations are in five focus areas, which include learning, community development, arts and culture, environment, and organizational capacity building. To support “Art, History and Culture”, the MCF grant will be used by the Madison Public Market Foundation to support art at the Public Market, particularly works celebrating Madison’s Indigenous, Black, Hmong and Latinx artists and communities. Read more.

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January 29, 2019. Madison’s nonprofits provide critical services that ensure the city’s rich resources are accessible to all its residents. In turn, they rely on the support of donors and the larger business community. So many private business leaders step up to the plate every day, knowing their employees value service and the opportunity to give back. These efforts not only benefit the populations each nonprofit intends to serve, but all of us. This is good, old-fashioned, genuine community building, and it’s alive and well in Madison. With this section, we honor our local nonprofits and the companies that go the extra mile to keep them running strong.

Madison Public Market

Imagine a bustling, vibrant, 45,000-square-foot public market showcasing the best of Madison’s local food and handmade goods. A treasured destination and important economic driver melding a 21st century local food economy with innovation and growth, particularly for communities that traditionally face barriers to entrepreneurism. Yet another spectacular landmark for which this city becomes famously known: Capitol Square. Monona Terrace. The Overture Center for The Arts. And, in 2021, the Madison Public Market.

“When we look at the best cities across our country and the world, most of them have thriving, colorful public markets. Madison is long overdue for a public market of our own,” said Jamaal Stricklin, Madison Public Market Foundation president.

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July 2, 2018. Neil Heinen shares excitement for developments in the Madison Public Market planning, highlighting incorporation of neighborhood and community input

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May 11, 2018. For more than 20 years Anne Reynolds made a career out of assisting cooperatives from nationally recognized brands, such as Ocean Spray, as well as local outlets such as Willy Street Co-op.

Although she retired as executive director of UW-Madison’s Center for Cooperatives in January, Reynolds remains busy with her involvement in the Madison Public Market project. She leads the city’s Public Market Development Committee, which is guiding development of the $11.8 million project planned at the intersection of East Washington Avenue and North First Street.

Reynolds, 64, also sits on the board of directors for the Madison Public Market Foundation, which is conducting private fundraising for the project and was recently selected to be the market’s operator when it opens as early as 2020.

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