St. John's farmers market eyes Metrobus building

The St. John's Farmers' Market sees the Metrobus depot on Freshwater Road as a possible new home.

The idea of the market moving to the bus terminal was floated a few weeks ago by city councillor Tom Hann.

Dean Barnes, the chair of the market, likes the idea.

"The Metrobus terminal is a highly potential candidate," said Barnes.

According to Barnes, the depot has a lot of what the market is looking for.

"One of the big things is it has a large outdoor space for parking, which is an issue here and it's fairly centrally located — it's on bus routes. Also, there's a very large inside space," said Barnes.

The market started about five years ago and has been growing steadily ever since.

"We've gotten to the point now we've severely outgrown the space that we have … we've set up quite a few vendors outside. We actually need a permanent home," Barnes told CBC News.

Barnes said talks with St. John's, which got underway this week, are going well.

"The city's been very positive about this," said Barnes.

But he cautions nothing is definitive yet.

"It is a feasibility study right now — it's not a definite," said Barnes.

For its part, the city said talks are in the preliminary stages.