Greg Benkner: How about Symmes Park as home for Loveland Farmers’ Market?

Historic Downtown business owner Greg Benkner, wrote this letter to Loveland Farmers’ Market manager Donna Bednar, The Friends of Loveland Farmers’ Market , City Manager Dave Kennedy, Mayor Mark Fitzgerald, all city council members, many downtown businesses, and Loveland Magazine.

Not picking one over the other, just offering another positive option

Dear Loveland Magazine Readers,

I’ll be upfront . . . last Tuesday night was the first Loveland council meeting I have ever attended, and the first of many to come. I felt I should listen before I weigh in about the location of the Loveland Farmers’ Market.

I spent many a summer years ago on a dairy farm just up the street that is now Black Horse Run.

I appreciate the life of a farmer and their contribution to our great land.

Last night I heard three options for the market to remain in downtown and offer my take and a fourth option that I never heard mentioned:

1) Jackson Street Market . . . it is just not a viable option due to space limitations.

2) The new parking lot at the canoe rental . . . might work, again space limitations.

3) Nisbet Park . . . the best of the downtown options . . . it seems to work for the art show.

Relocating out on the Loveland Madeira corridor is not a good option . . . I feel the market would keep getting relocated due to development of those properties and esthetically it just doesn’t fit the market.

Hope you can all work it out . . . however, one more viable option if the above doesn’t work out:

4) Symmes Twp. Park . . . my business, The Screen Shoppe was an active participant with a booth in the Cincinnati Flower Show for the two years it was there. The park is a wonderful, natural setting.

Set-up was very easy.

Parking was abundant.

Plenty of facilities and there was not a traffic flow issue there.

We did very well on leads/sales from the event. For those of you who ask “then why is it not there now?” As an official media (Living’s Great Magazine) for the horticultural society, we knew the inner workings . . . there were differing opinions, the founding “queen” stepped down and we were in the midst of The Great Repression of 2009-10, and truthfully, this area was out of their demographic.

Symmes Twp. put a lot of money into improvements at the park for the event . . . there is a huge grassy area (next to the new Brookstone development) that has a special mat under the grass that allows for parking and/or set-up on a rainy day without sinking in the mud.

Not picking one over the other, just offering another positive option . . . check it out . . . it’s five minutes up the road, it may increase your audience from a more populated area with the proper marketing, and more importantly, the market will not keep getting relocated . . .

The Loveland (Symmes) Farmer’s Market can have a home in a wonderful setting in perpetuity.

Respectfully submitted . . . see you at the Feb. 23 council meeting.

Greg Benkner, downtown business owner