MONROE — With progress being made on the public park on the northeast corner of the square at a quickening speed, the city will host a preview event to showcase the soon to be completed project.
The event is a night market, co-hosted by Main Street Monroe, Inc. A night market is an outdoor street market that operates in evening hours and features a variety of vendors selling food, merchandise, and crafts. Originally believed to have originated in China, they have become especially popular in the United States over the last handful of years. Monroe’s will be from 5-8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13.
Vendors will include local stores like 213 Mercantile, Busy Bee Floral, and 608 The Factory, which opened on the north side of the square in the spring. 213 Mercantile attends approximately a dozen markets annually and is excited to be a part of Monroe’s.
“Hopefully this is the start of a new event. We always enjoy being a part of downtown Monroe. There’s so much to celebrate, especially this year. We can’t wait to bring all these different things together,” said Terra Junk, owner of 213 Mercantile. Busy Bee Floral will have retail as well as a bouquet station and 608 The Factory will have a station set up for custom trucker hats. Additional vendors not normally found downtown will include a Trachten Closet, Dirty Soda Fountain Bar, food vendors, permanent jewelry, apparel, other crafts, plus a beer garden, and live music, which includes the UW Band, which was scheduled to perform on the July 11 concert which was rained out. Vendors will lean more into retail than the farmers market with many attending an event in Monroe for the first time.
Everything will be set up on the blocks just off the northeast corner of the square to showcase the park project. The project, first officially announced by Main Street Monroe, Inc in June of last year, has seen significant progress in the last few weeks. The interior of the bathroom building has been completed, the building itself will soon be connected to electricity, and landscaping started on Wednesday, Aug. 27.
The city of Monroe owns and will maintain the project, through the city’s Parks & Recreation Department’s existing annual budget.
Main Street Monroe says nearly 95% of the total cost for the project has been raised so far, with no city of Monroe taxpayer dollars being used on the project. Once completed, the project, in addition to the restrooms, will include a pergola, electronic kiosk, a historic timeline of the city of Monroe, landscaped areas and green spaces. The city is covering financing for pledges made through 2026. By covering bridge funding, as its known, the city is saving tens of thousands of dollars on the total cost of the project.
Not all elements of the park project will be installed by Sept. 13, but Main Street’s director, Jordan Nordby, is excited for people to be able to walk through the area and really get a feel for it.
“It’s been a long time coming and because of the size of the project it hasn’t been as easy maybe to see all the work that has been done,” Nordby said. “This event will really allow people for the first time to see a huge addition to our downtown.”
Donations are still being accepted for the park, with complete details being found online at mainstreetmonroe.org/restrooms.
Anyone interested in being a vendor at the market, should contact Nordby at 608.328.4023 or monroemainstreet@tds.net
Main Street Monroe, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, is the 501(c)3 volunteer drive non-profit organization that handles community development in downtown Monroe.
