Future of Providence Flea Now in Question
GoLocalProv News Team
Future of Providence Flea Now in Question
Last week, the 195 Commission voted to approve the construction of a mixed-use building on the land which the "Flea" had historically been located each spring, summer, and fall.
The Providence Flea describes itself as a "year-round, award-winning vintage and indie maker market." It has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city each year.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Flea had proposed to build an open-air, mixed-use pavilion on parcel 1A, but the 195 Commissioners selected a competing proposal.
“I can’t say I was surprised with the decision, but I was disappointed,” said Providence Flea Owner and Market Manager Maria Tocco.
Tocco said that the Flea now has to make a decision about a possible new location in just weeks, as vendors need to plan out their summer flea market schedules.
“[The 195 Commission] did write us into the resolution as part of their decision, saying we can set up in District Park,” said Tocco, of the potential that the Flea would be allowed to operate just across the river.
But even in a close geographic proximity, the move would present a number of logistical questions that would need to be answered, says Tocco.
“It’s a park, not an event space — it has a lot of challenges,” said Tocco, noting that everything from drop-off location for vendors, to lack of parking, would need to be addressed.
Tocco said she has been approached by other interested parties, both in the city and around the state, to be the new home of the Flea.
“It’s not as easy as picking up the market and plunking it down somewhere else,” said Tocco. “We’re not like a farmers market, where there’s the same 75 vendors through all the season."
"We can have up to 350 vendors a season, as we have a two-market minimum. People come back to see what’s new and that’s part of the attraction," said Tocco.
Since its inception in 2013, the “Flea” has grown and attracted thousands to Providence in the summertime on weekends.
Tocco said that because the Flea doesn’t have an entrance fee, and that visitors flow freely through the market, that they are not able to provide exact numbers.
“If the [Michael Van Leesten] Pedestrian Bridge measures their foot traffic that they see 5,000 visitors a day, when the Flea is there, it would have to be twice that, but I can’t say that with hard data,” said Tocco. “10,000 people don’t come every Sunday, but definitely thousands.”
Tocco said the weekly event has had a significant ancillary economic impact for the city, especially during the hot summer months when students are gone, and people flock to the beaches instead.
“We’ve heard from people who say they come down from Boston, and then they eat on Wickenden, or they’ll have brunch at Plant City. Street parking is free. Sundays are pretty sleepy, and a lot of stuff would be closed,” said Tocco. “When we started there weren’t all these buildings and developments. It was at the end of a commercial street and facing the backs of most of those buildings; people weren’t really paying attention.”
Then the Pedestrian Bridge was completed, and the area has grown.
Tocco said the Flea always knew though that they were likely on “borrowed time” at that location, however, knowing that the 195 Commission could opt for development on the parcel -- which they did.
“It wasn’t about getting bigger. It was really just a fun high-quality community market in the center of the city,” said Tocco, noting that other events, such as “10,000 Suns” had cropped up when the 195 land remained vacant.
“I think you can see, in cities that grow quickly, you have these organic place-making initiatives, not to toss jargon around — but there can be this battle between development and open space and people who fill in those voids with activation,” said Tocco. ‘You hope there can be a balance but it’s a fact of life in a growing city.”