GREEN BAY, Wis. — By spring 2025, Ron Franklin expects the Green Bay Public Market will look much different than today. He’s the vice president of operations for the market.
“It’s going to be 20 to 24 different food-based businesses. You’ll have ready-to-go meals and things like Colombian food or Caribbean food, coffee, donuts, those sorts of things,” Franklin said. “You can also come here and get high-quality meats, seafoods, fruits and vegetables. You’ll be able to stop and enjoy a glass of wine and samplings from some of the local cheese artisans in the area, as well as well as a local brewery.”
Located in the former Old Fort Square building, it’s geared to be a new downtown attraction for both locals and visitors.
“The whole concept is bringing people back,” Franklin said. “We’re going to have programming on site over 300 days out of the year. We’ll have events onsite to bring people to the location to check things out. They’ll be able to walk around the space and enjoy the environment and atmosphere that’s here.”
Planting a year-round destination in downtown Green Bay is welcome news to Alexander Graziano, owner of Stage 1, a bar and event venue adjacent to the market.
“It’s going to bring a lot of people down to this street, which is great for all the businesses on Broadway,” he said. “For us, being next door, it’s an incredible honor and opportunity for us to bring in lots of visitors to show what the Green Bay Public Market is, what Green Bay is, but then ultimately what our brand is, and what we’re trying to do here.”
Graziano said he chose to do business in the evolving Broadway District because of its potential for growth.
“It’s been growing in the past 10, 20, years,” he said. “The farmers’ market has brought so much art, culture, incredible food and such a wide range of people here that truly show how much this district, and the growth of it is inspiring people.”
Project leaders expect the public market to spur an additional $100 million in housing, commercial space and parking infrastructure. The goal was for construction to be done by the NFL Draft at the end of April, but they admit that will be a difficult deadline to meet.
“We’d love to open by the draft, but it’s realistically probably going to be a late spring or early summer time frame. Obviously, with construction delays and a little thing we like to enjoy around here called winter. The sooner the better, and we’ll keep everyone up to date on any time changes that come.”