PORTLAND — The James Beard Public Market is still looking for a home.
Executive Director Fred Granum thinks he might have found one near OMSI. The nonprofit museum is preparing to redevelop the vacant lots that surround it, and Granum has been eyeing the land for a year now.
Plans to locate the long-sought project at the west end of the Morrison Bridge fell through last year over concerns about pedestrian access.
That wouldn’t be an issue on OMSI’s land, which is now situated between two pedestrian-friendly bridges.
Granum said the public market — planned as a sprawling food-hall-meets-farmers-market with as many as 70 vendors — would be a good fit for the southern end of the OMSI blocks, near Tilikum Crossing and with easy access to a proposed plaza.
That way, the market could spill outside, he said. In addition to the 50,000 square foot market, Granum also wants to build an additional 20,000 square-foot space to house a restaurant, teaching kitchen and classrooms.
