TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Adam J. Lindsay, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Michael Gibson, Parks and Recreation Department Director
Sheila Thomas-Ambat, Public Services Department Director
DATE: May 5, 2025
RE:
Title
Market House Repurposing Project Update
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
2
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal 4: Desirable Place to Live, Work and Recreate
Executive Summary:
Information regarding progress made on repurposing the Market House is being presented to Council for consensus to move forward.
Background:
On January 29, 2021, Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Relations Director Dr. Anthony Wade was assigned the responsibility of assembling a working group to identify, develop, and prioritize strategic recommendations to the City for the repurposing of the Fayetteville Market House as a community asset.
In October 2021 & January 2022 Human Relations hosted two of the United States Department of Justice community engagement model known as City SPIRIT events, in order to receive community feedback as to how to repurpose the Market House. Following the City SPIRIT model, the Human Relations Commission conducted further community engagement and gathered information from approximately 500 additional residents. From these, two main recommendations emerged: 1) make the Market House ADA accessible and 2) create greater pedestrian safety. As a result, the City contracted with SFL+A Architects for options on how to achieve this goal within budget. Following SFL+A Architects presentation of options and the selection of Option B, which consisted of milling and paving ~4,400 sf, creating a square traffic pattern with ADA slopes, traffic rated concrete brick paver crosswalks, and extending the arcade from the base of the steps.
On September 3, 2024, a preliminary analysis of the previously presented Option B for Market House improvements to ADA accessibility and pedestrian safety around the building was presented to Council. Council revised their previous action and directed staff to focus on Option A, a continuation of the traffic circle pattern (instead of a square) with expansion of the of pedestrian footprint around the Market House. The recommendation was made that a traffic operational and safety analysis and a conceptual evaluation of Option A be conducted to ensure pedestrian and traffic mobility around the Market House be properly evaluated before moving forward with detail design and construction.
Issues/Analysis:
After conducting traffic analysis and safety report (attached Market Square Repurposing Study - Traffic Analysis and Safety Report) Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, LLP developed 5 alternatives for modifications to the Market House Plaza. The 5 alternatives can be viewed in detail in the attached draft report, Market Square Repurposing Study Concept & Cost Report 2025.04.15.
Two of the five alternatives are being presented to Council for consideration. Alternative 2B resurfaces the circle road (slopes down towards the central plaza); provides pedestrian and roundabout improvements; provides center island plaza expansion; and accommodate a WB-62 tractor-trailer. Alternative X eliminates the improvements to the center island plaza, but retains the exterior improvements to the approach legs and the circle pavement mill & fill (i.e. does not expand the center island plaza, does improve the exterior splitter islands and crosswalks, includes one crosswalk into the center island plaza on the Hay Street (west leg) approach to the existing Market House ramp).
In addition to pedestrian accessibility focus, staff also looked for opportunities to enhance the aesthetics and repurposing elements of the space. Staff proposes to include Market House programming elements to include LED uplighting, structural repairs (necessary and already underway) and informational kiosks. The LED lighting will illuminate the Market House with different colors for designated events. Structural repairs include updates to infrastructure to allow installation of lighting and replacement of degraded exterior wood on the upper levels. As the budget allows, two (2) interactive informational kiosks that can display videos of the history of the Market House or other desired content would be installed. The kiosks allow remote access to update content.
Staff will be prepared to discuss the estimated schedule and coordination that will need to take place between these different project components. The budget is very tight and is a big driver in staff’s recommendation for Alternative X. It is possible that all components could be completed in either option but until the project is bid we are relying on the engineer’s estimates. Depending on how the budget shapes out after Council’s direction on the scope, the kiosks might be a delayed component until additional funding is obtained if costs exceed availability.
Budget Impact:
Budget of $1,628,312.08 has been identified from the following sources:
Historic Building & Sites - $902,946.83 (Available budget)
Historic Building & Sites - $370,365.25 (Committed)
Spot Repair - $100,000 (Stormwater)
State Direct Grant - $255,000.00 (Pedestrian Improvements)
Options:
1. Direct staff to move forward with the lighting plan and Alternative X.
2. Direct staff to move forward with the lighting plan and Alternative 2B.
3. Council provides staff with further direction.
Recommended Action:
Direct staff to move forward with the lighting plan and Alternative X.
Attachments:
MarketSquareRepurposingStudy_Concept & Cost Report 2025.04.15
Market Square Repurposing Study - Traffic Analysis and Safety Report (1)
Market House Presentation JS 04232025 02