Mill Market board and vendors support move

Despite some earlier misgivings about the move, it appears vendors and board members are all-in with the relocation of the Mill Market to a new home in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. City Council gave final approval to the move this week with a vote to award the tender to a local construction company and to contribute some additional funding.

Brent Lamming, chair of the Mill Market’s board of directors, says there was some concern expressed by vendors about whether there would be adequate parking at the new site. However, he says that will not be a problem.

“There are 550 paved parking spaces that are within a one-block radius of the market building for the future relocation to Brock Street,” said Lamming.

“Whereas the parking lot that we’re using right now is a dirt parking lot that would have approximately half of that capacity.”

Lamming points out that the current Mill Market building is not hooked up to the city’s waterworks and that renovations are not feasible. He adds that council has heard from staff that the current building should have been torn down a decade ago.

Among the vendors making the move with the Mill Market is Reubara’s; the owner, Reuban Bruzas, says business has been good in his current spot.

“This location with the train station just being around the corner, a lot of tourists coming through to the canal, I do get a lot of tourists and also the people who are out for a walk,” Bruzas told CTV News.

However, even with losing direct exposure to tourists, Bruzas says he is confident his business will benefit from the move overall.

“I think it’s going to be an increase in customers, but it’s going to be a different clientele,” he said.

“I don’t think we’re going to see very much of the tourism there. But the plaza as a whole, I think the whole concept is going to be wonderful.”

The next step is to begin renovations of the new Mill Market building downtown. There are no firm timelines in place. In the meantime, the board and vendors are working on a transition plan as well as the layout of the new market.