To market, to market
At the Farmers’ Market June 22 (Photo: Geisel)
Trying to create a new downtown feel on Main Street
The Mammoth MarketPlace is now the Mammoth Mini MarketPlace. Originally intended to run from Perry’s Restaurant on Main St. down to Leisure Properties/Coldwell Banker, two surprising defections have forced the MarketPlace to seriously contract.
The MarketPlace, a project conceived by and strongly advocated for by Mammoth Lakes Councilmember Skip Harvey, was intended to provide a “walk-around” area in the middle of Mammoth to complement the Village. “Walk-around” is a concept that has taken the resort market by storm, with virtually every ski destination in the country and now, all kinds of other tourist locales working on perfecting their “walk-around” areas.
The thinking in Mammoth has been for many years that the Village would provide tourists with what they wanted in terms of “walk-around” and put Mammoth on the map for more than just great skiing and boarding. It appears, however, that while the Village is terrific, it isn’t quite enough. A lot of people want to be on the “main drag” of the Town, but not dodging cars while they stroll around, cappuccino in hand, enjoying the sights, sounds, and fresh air that Mammoth is famous for.
Into this breach stepped Harvey. the owner of Base Camp Café, which occupies most of one of two buildings on Main Street owned by Tom Cage. The other tenants are Mammoth Realty Group and Tom’s retail store, P3.
Skip’s idea was to block off one lane of traffic on the southerly frontage road that borders Highway 203, and use the blocked off lane for foot and bicycle traffic. Then, seating and outdoor retail would be added to create a relaxed but fun atmosphere that would encourage visitors to linger over a cup of coffee or buy a souvenir, all while enjoying the beautiful weather that is typical of Mammoth in the summer.
As the owner of Mammoth Luxury Outlets, just to the west of Cage’s property, I embrace Skip’s approach. While the Village is a fine property, I believe a ‘walk-around’ area in the middle of Mammoth would be hugely popular with our visitors and add another much needed aspect to the Mammoth experience in summer. Perhaps most important, it would do so without having to invest a lot of money and give us a chance to build on success if people liked it, or back off before getting in head over heels, if they don’t.
Months of meetings with local property and business owners took place this spring, with plans drawn up by Town Staff and endless negotiations with Caltrans and other interested parties. Skip definitely had his work cut out for him.
Alas, with a total victory almost in sight and having received the go-ahead from property owners on 203 and Caltrans, Skip presented contracts for the owners to sign to obligate them to pay a substantial share of the cost that would otherwise have been borne by the Town. While Tom Cage and myself quickly put pen to paper, Coldwell Banker and Schat’s Bakery, at the very last minute, did not.
Coldwell allowed that it thought most of the benefit would go to businesses to the west of them and Schat’s was concerned that it would lose one too many parking spaces to make it worthwhile. As a result, after an ocean of work by Skip and many others, it looked like the Mammoth Marketplace would be just another good idea that never came to fruition in Mammoth.
However, I’m not willing to let it die. I told Skip that we should make it a demonstration project on a smaller scale and limit it to an area occupied by the Outlet Mall and see how the concept works. Then, if it is as popular as we think it will be, others will want to be on board next summer.
With that, and more negotiation by Skip Harvey with Town Staff and others, the Mammoth Mini-Marketplace is well on its way to becoming a reality.
Slated to begin on Wednesday, July 6, in conjunction with the regular Farmers’ Market, the proponents hope to get the “Marketplace” off to a good start and look forward to a new place to recreate in Mammoth in July, August and maybe even part of September, depending on how well things go.
